6 Basics [basic]

6.8 Types [basic.types]

6.8.4 Compound types [basic.compound]

Compound types can be constructed in the following ways:
These methods of constructing types can be applied recursively; restrictions are mentioned in [dcl.meaning].
Constructing a type such that the number of bytes in its object representation exceeds the maximum value representable in the type std​::​size_t ([support.types]) is ill-formed.
The type of a pointer to cv void or a pointer to an object type is called an object pointer type.
[Note 1: 
A pointer to void does not have a pointer-to-object type, however, because void is not an object type.
— end note]
The type of a pointer that can designate a function is called a function pointer type.
A pointer to an object of type T is referred to as a “pointer to T.
[Example 1: 
A pointer to an object of type int is referred to as “pointer to int” and a pointer to an object of class X is called a “pointer to X.
— end example]
Except for pointers to static members, text referring to “pointers” does not apply to pointers to members.
Pointers to incomplete types are allowed although there are restrictions on what can be done with them ([basic.types.general]).
Every value of pointer type is one of the following:
A value of a pointer type that is a pointer to or past the end of an object represents the address of the first byte in memory ([intro.memory]) occupied by the object33 or the first byte in memory after the end of the storage occupied by the object, respectively.
[Note 2: 
A pointer past the end of an object ([expr.add]) is not considered to point to an unrelated object of the object's type, even if the unrelated object is located at that address.
— end note]
For purposes of pointer arithmetic ([expr.add]) and comparison ([expr.rel], [expr.eq]), a pointer past the end of the last element of an array x of n elements is considered to be equivalent to a pointer to a hypothetical array element n of x and an object of type T that is not an array element is considered to belong to an array with one element of type T.
The value representation of pointer types is implementation-defined.
Pointers to layout-compatible types shall have the same value representation and alignment requirements ([basic.align]).
[Note 3: 
Pointers to over-aligned types have no special representation, but their range of valid values is restricted by the extended alignment requirement.
— end note]
A pointer value P is valid in the context of an evaluation E if P is a null pointer value, or if it is a pointer to or past the end of an object O and E happens before the end of the duration of the region of storage for O.
If a pointer value P is used in an evaluation E and P is not valid in the context of E, then the behavior is undefined if E is an indirection ([expr.unary.op]) or an invocation of a deallocation function ([basic.stc.dynamic.deallocation]), and implementation-defined otherwise.34
[Note 4: 
P can be valid in the context of E even if it points to a type unrelated to that of O or if O is not within its lifetime, although further restrictions apply to such pointer values ([basic.life], [basic.lval], [expr.add]).
— end note]
Two objects a and b are pointer-interconvertible if
  • they are the same object, or
  • one is a union object and the other is a non-static data member of that object ([class.union]), or
  • one is a standard-layout class object and the other is the first non-static data member of that object or any base class subobject of that object ([class.mem]), or
  • there exists an object c such that a and c are pointer-interconvertible, and c and b are pointer-interconvertible.
If two objects are pointer-interconvertible, then they have the same address, and it is possible to obtain a pointer to one from a pointer to the other via a reinterpret_cast ([expr.reinterpret.cast]).
[Note 5: 
An array object and its first element are not pointer-interconvertible, even though they have the same address.
— end note]
A byte of storage b is reachable through a pointer value that points to an object x if there is an object y, pointer-interconvertible with x, such that b is within the storage occupied by y, or the immediately-enclosing array object if y is an array element.
A pointer to cv void can be used to point to objects of unknown type.
Such a pointer shall be able to hold any object pointer.
An object of type “pointer to cv void” shall have the same representation and alignment requirements as an object of type “pointer to cv char.
32)32)
Static class members are objects or functions, and pointers to them are ordinary pointers to objects or functions.
33)33)
For an object that is not within its lifetime, this is the first byte in memory that it will occupy or used to occupy.
34)34)
Some implementations might define that copying such a pointer value causes a system-generated runtime fault.