Question

 char *p="orkut" vs const char *p="orkut"

whats the difference btwn these two…

EDIT

from bjarne stroustrup,3rd edition page 90

void f()
{

char* p="plato";
p[4]='e' // error: assign to const;result is undefined

}

this kind of error cannont be general b caught until run time and implementations differ in their enforcement of this rule

Same with const char *p=”plato”

Thats why iam asking the diffrence… Whats the significance of const here..

Answer 1

The const char* variant is correct.

You should not change memory that comes from a string literal (referred to as static storage usually). It is read only memory.

The difference is that the char* variant will allow you to write the syntax to change the data that it points to by dereferencing it. What it actually does though is undefined.

//Option 1:
char *p = "orkut";
*p = 'x';//undefined behavior


//Option 2:
const char *q = "orkut";
*q = 'x';//compiling error

I would rather have option 2 happen to me.