Visual Basic .NET doesn’t have pointers in the same way as languages like C or Go. Instead, it uses reference types and the ByRef keyword to achieve similar functionality. Here’s how the concepts translate:
Value types (like Integer) are passed by value by default, similar to the zeroval function in the original example.
The ByRef keyword is used to pass variables by reference, similar to using pointers in the original zeroptr function.
VB.NET manages memory automatically, so you don’t directly manipulate memory addresses. Instead, you work with object references.
To run this program:
Save the code in a file with a .vb extension, for example Pointers.vb.
Compile the code using the VB.NET compiler:
Run the compiled executable:
The output will be similar to:
Note that ZeroVal doesn’t change the i in Main, but ZeroRef does because it has a reference to the original variable. The last line demonstrates how we can print a unique identifier for an object, which is conceptually similar to a memory address in languages with explicit pointer support.