Questions about re-introduction to programming

[CeeBee]

[headache]pointers[/headache]

In all honesty, understanding them as "theory" in the absence of good examples is a headache that makes no sense, but when you start using them it all becomes clear...

Come on, what's not to love in such a code (part of an embedded webserver where saving memory and efficient use of the 12.5MHz clock is important)

if(pSocket->step==1)
  {
    maxBytes=sizeof(pSocket->outBuffer) - (pSocket->pData - pSocket->outBuffer) - pSocket->nDataLeft - 1;
    if(maxBytes>1000)
    {
      maxBytes=1000;
    }
    fileBytes=fat_read_file(pSocket->filePtr, (unsigned char*)(pSocket->outBuffer + pSocket->nDataLeft), maxBytes);
    if(fileBytes>0)
    {
      *(pSocket->outBuffer + pSocket->nDataLeft + fileBytes)='\0';
      pSocket->step = pSocket->step - 1; //to stay at the same step if more data exists
    }
    else
    {
      fileBytes=0; //avoid issues when returned an error case
      fat_close_file(pSocket->filePtr);
      *pSocket->pData = '\0';  //null terminate output data
      pSocket->pageReady = 1;
    }
    newBytes = fileBytes;
  }