What is a pointer variable in C?

Pointer variables point to data variables. They are mostly used to point to dynamically allocated data variables, but can actually point to anything (e.g. statically allocated variables, array elements, anywhere inside a variable, program machine code, I/O device descriptors, nonexistent memory). Misuse of pointer variables, either unintentionally or intentionally, is a major cause of nearly impossible to debug software problems in programs written in C (and C++).