I am going over C and have a question regarding const
usage with pointers. I understand the following code:
const char *someArray
This is defining a pointer that points to types of char and the const
modifier means that the values stored in someArray
cannot be changed. However, what does the following mean?
char * const array
Is this an alternate way of specifying a parameter that is a char pointer to an array named "array" that is const
and cannot be modified?
Lastly, what does this combination mean:
const char * const s2
For reference, these are taken from the Deitel C programming book in Chapter 7 and all of these are used as parameters passed to functions.
const char*
is, as you said, a pointer to a char, where you can't change the value of the char (at least not through the pointer (without casting the constness away)).
char* const
is a pointer to a char, where you can change the char, but you can't make the pointer point to a different char.
const char* const
is a constant pointer to a constant char, i.e. you can change neither where the pointer points nor the value of the pointee.