C++ - Arrow Vs Dot

The dot operator is applied to the actual object. The arrow operator is used with a pointer to an object.

struct Student {

   char first_name[16];

   int  age;

}  emp;

The (.) dot operator

To assign the value "lala" to the first_name member of object emp, you would write something as follows −

strcpy(std.first_name, "lala");

The (->) arrow operator

If p_emp is a pointer to an object of type Employee, then to assign the value "zara" to the first_name member of object emp, you would write something as follows −

strcpy(p_std->first_name, "lala");

The -> is called the arrow operator. It is formed by using the minus sign followed by a greater than sign.

Simply saying: To access members of a structure, use the dot operator. To access members of a structure through a pointer, use the arrow operator.