Advanced Pointer Applications and Performance

Use `void` pointers for generic programming and understand the associated type safety implications.

Implement opaque pointers ('pimpl' idiom) for information hiding and API encapsulation.

Explain pointer aliasing and the implications of violating the strict aliasing rule.

Use unions with pointers for type punning, and describe its use in embedded systems.

Explain the principles of zero-copy data transfer in communication stacks.

Implement a simplified zero-copy buffer passing mechanism using pointers and casting.

Implement an intrusive linked list by embedding pointers directly within data structures.

Explain how cache locality (spatial and temporal) impacts the performance of pointer-based data access.

Apply data layout and access pattern optimizations to improve cache performance in pointer-intensive code.