In computer programming, an opaque pointer is a special case of opaque data type, a datatype that is declared to be a pointer to a record or data structure of some unspecified type. Opaque pointers are present in several programming languages including Ada, C/C++ and Modula-2.

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  • In computer programming, an opaque pointer is a special case of opaque data type, a datatype that is declared to be a pointer to a record or data structure of some unspecified type. Opaque pointers are present in several programming languages including Ada, C/C++ and Modula-2. If the language is strongly typed, programs and procedures that have no other information about an opaque pointer type T can still declare variables, arrays, and record fields of type T, assign values of that type, and compare those values for equality. However, they will not be able to de-reference such a pointer, and can only change the object's content by calling some procedure that has the missing information. Opaque pointers are a way to hide the implementation details of an interface from ordinary clients, so that the implementation may be changed without the need to recompile the modules using it. This is important for providing binary code compatibility through different versions of a shared library, for example. This technique is sometimes referred to as "handle classes", the "Pimpl idiom" (for "pointer to implementation idiom"), "Compiler firewall idiom" or "Cheshire Cat", especially among the C++ community.
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  • Ada Programming
  • Taft types
  • Tips Full declaration of a type can be deferred to the unit's body
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  • In computer programming, an opaque pointer is a special case of opaque data type, a datatype that is declared to be a pointer to a record or data structure of some unspecified type. Opaque pointers are present in several programming languages including Ada, C/C++ and Modula-2.
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  • Opaque pointer
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