Question

Is the following code legal, deprecated or illegal in C++0x?

char* p = "foobar";

I originally asked this question here as a comment.

Answer 1

The conversion

char* p = "foobar";

is deprecated in C++98/C++03, and has been removed (that is, §4.2/2 removed) in C++0x.

So, the code is not valid in C++0x.

However, MinGW g++ 4.4.1 still only emits a warning, not error.

C++98/C++03 §4.2/2 (which is removed in C++0x):

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A string literal (2.13.4) that is not a wide string literal can be converted to an rvalue of type “pointer to char”; a wide string literal can be converted to an rvalue of type “pointer to wchar_t”. In either case, the result is a pointer to the first element of the array. This conversion is considered only when there is an explicit appropriate pointer target type, and not when there is a general need to convert from an lvalue to an rvalue. [Note: this conversion is deprecated. See Annex D. ] For the purpose of ranking in overload resolution (13.3.3.1.1), this conversion is considered an array-to-pointer conversion followed by a qualification conversion (4.4). [Example: "abc" is converted to “pointer to const char” as an array-to-pointer conversion, and then to “pointer to char” as a qualification conversion. ]