Operator ->

Projects Programming
1

I am beginner with Arduino. I learnt some example sketchs and found strange operator " -> ". I can't find description in internet. What does it mean? Where I can learn about?

.....
#include <nRF8001.h>
......
nRF8001 *nrf;
....
void eventHandler(nRFEvent *event)
{
  Serial.println("event handler");
  nrf->debugEvent(event);
}
void setup() {
........
  nrf = new nRF8001(RESET_PIN, REQN_PIN, RDYN_PIN);
  // Register event handles
  nrf->setEventHandler(&eventHandler);
  nrf->setTemperatureHandler(&temperatureHandler);
......
}
2

It is C syntax,

nrf->debugEvent(event); is equivalent to (*nrf).debugEvent(event);

it is easier to type (2 chars less) and the visuals are better, the "arrow" points to a field/function.

3

-> derefences a pointer to a struct. In C you pass pointers to structs around (to avoid copying the whole
struct and to allowed shared access to a common instance), and the fields ("members") of the struct
are accessed from the pointer using this operator.

Search for "C operators" and you'll find lots of online docs listing all the C and C++ operators.