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Asked: 2026-05-26T23:47:52+00:00

char *s = hello; The code above allocates 6 bytes in read-only section of

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char *s = "hello";

The code above allocates 6 bytes in read-only section of a program (I’ve forgot the name of the section) to store the string hello. Then, s is initialized to point to the first character of the string hello. Modifying the string "hello" is undefined behavior. Besides, "hello" itself is constant in nature. The program doesn’t have permission to change read-only section.

I’m using MS VC++ 2010 Express. My question is, why does the compiler allows s, which is a char *, to point to the constant string? Shouldn’t there be a compiler error? Shouldn’t the compiler force us to use const char *s = "hello"; instead of char *s = "hello";?

Thanks.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    In C, “hello” has type char[]. This is not C++. See this question.

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