Question: is the -> operator defined by C compilers or was it invented later for ease of pointer use in C++? "You TK''ed my chicken!"

The -> operator is used with classes so that you don''t have to do (*Class).member, and since classes don''t exist in C, I would asssume that the answer is no.

Brendan

The -> operator is also used with structs and unions. It wasn''t invented for C++, it was inherited from C.

Spock is correct, as usual. :D

Classes are sort of like fancy structures. In C, you use -> to reference members of a structure using its pointer:

pMyStructure->variable = 0;

Where pMyStructure is a pointer to a structure and variable is a member of that structure.