Question

I’d like string representations in my code to start with index 1 (not 0). The paper I’m working from indexes at 1; I’d like to remain consistent with the original description.

At the moment I’m simply initialising strings with an additional space char:

the_string = ' ' + string;

However, it means the_string.length() is inconsistent with the ‘real’ length of the string.

Which alternative workaround (write my own string indexing function, make a mystring class and overload the []operator etc.) generates the least code and what is it?

Answer 1

A short and bad solution is to use a macro expansion to -1 the index.

#define I(x) ((x) - 1)

the_string[I(1)] // This will access the first character of the string.

This is fine if you want to align your solution on paper and code – but never let that code get into any production system.