When to Use Pointers

Pointers are rare in D. As you have seen in the reading from the standard input lesson, readf can in fact be used without explicit pointers.

When required by libraries Pointers can appear on C and C++ library bindings. For example, the following function from the GtkD library takes a pointer:

GdkGeometry geometry;
// ... set the members of 'geometry' ... 
window.setGeometryHints(/* ... */, &geometry, /* ... */);

When referencing variables of value types

Pointers can be used for referring to local variables. The following program counts the outcomes of flipping a coin. It takes advantage of a pointer when referring to one of two local variables: