在java和c#中，所有的对象引用都是指针，而在c++中，你可以更好地控制指针指向的地方。记住，能力越大，责任越大。

Pointers allow you to refer to the same space in memory from multiple locations. This means that you can update memory in one location and the change can be seen from another location in your program. You will also save space by being able to share components in your data structures. You should use pointers any place where you need to obtain and pass around the address to a specific spot in memory. You can also use pointers to navigate arrays: An array is a block of contiguous memory that has been allocated with a specific type. The name of the array contains the value of the starting spot of the array. When you add 1, that takes you to the second spot. This allows you to write loops that increment a pointer that slides down the array without having an explicit counter for use in accessing the array.

下面是一个C语言的例子:

char hello[] = "hello";

char *p = hello;

while (*p)
{
    *p += 1; // increase the character by one

    p += 1; // move to the next spot
}

printf(hello);

打印

ifmmp

因为它取每个字符的值并加1。

在很大程度上，指针是数组(在C/ c++中)——它们是内存中的地址，如果需要(在“正常”情况下)，可以像数组一样访问它们。

因为它们是一个项目的地址，所以它们很小:它们只占用一个地址的空间。由于它们很小，将它们发送到函数是很便宜的。然后它们允许该函数在实际项目上工作，而不是一个副本。

如果您想进行动态存储分配(例如对于链表)，则必须使用指针，因为它们是从堆中获取内存的唯一方法。

指针是获得对另一个变量的间接引用的一种方式。它们不是保存变量的值，而是告诉您变量的地址。这在处理数组时特别有用，因为使用指向数组中第一个元素(它的地址)的指针，可以通过递增指针(指向下一个地址位置)快速找到下一个元素。

我读过的关于指针和指针算术的最好解释是在K & R的《C编程语言》中。开始学习c++的一本好书是c++ Primer。

关于你的第二个问题，通常你在编程时不需要使用指针，但是有一个例外，那就是当你创建一个公共API时。

The problem with C++ constructs that people generally use to replace pointers are very dependent on the toolset that you use which is fine when you have all the control you need over the source code, however if you compile a static library with visual studio 2008 for instance and try to use it in a visual studio 2010 you will get a ton of linker errors because the new project is linked with a newer version of STL which is not backwards compatible. Things get even nastier if you compile a DLL and give an import library that people use in a different toolset because in that case your program will crash sooner or later for no apparent reason.

因此，为了将大型数据集从一个库移动到另一个库，如果你不想强迫其他人使用与你使用的相同工具，你可以考虑给一个指向应该复制数据的函数的数组指针。这样做的好处是它甚至不必是一个c风格的数组，你可以使用std::vector并通过给出第一个元素&向量[0]的地址来给出指针，并使用std::vector在内部管理数组。

Another good reason to use pointers in C++ again relates to libraries, consider having a dll that cannot be loaded when your program runs, so if you use an import library then the dependency isn't satisfied and the program crashes. This is the case for instance when you give a public api in a dll alongside your application and you want to access it from other applications. In this case in order to use the API you need to load the dll from its' location (usually it's in a registry key) and then you need to use a function pointer to be able to call functions inside the DLL. Sometimes the people that make the API are nice enough to give you a .h file that contain helper functions to automate this process and give you all the function pointers that you need, but if not you can use LoadLibrary and GetProcAddress on windows and dlopen and dlsym on unix to get them (considering that you know the entire signature of the function).

这里描述了C语言中指针的需求

其基本思想是，语言中的许多限制(如使用数组、字符串和修改函数中的多个变量)可以通过操纵数据的内存位置来消除。为了克服这些限制，C语言中引入了指针。

此外，还可以看到，使用指针，您可以更快地运行代码，并在将大数据类型(如具有许多字段的结构)传递给函数时节省内存。在传递之前复制此类数据类型将花费时间并消耗内存。这是程序员更喜欢大数据类型指针的另一个原因。

PS:请参考提供的详细解释和示例代码链接。