Question

what is the best way to call a function with the following declaration

string Extract(const char* pattern,const char* input);

i use

string str=Extract("something","input text");

is there a problem with this usage

should i use the following

char pattern[]="something";
char input[]="input";
//or use pointers with new operator and copy then free?

the both works but i like the first one but i want to know the best practice.

Answer 1

The first method, i.e. passing them literally in, is usually preferable.

There are occasions though where you don’t want your strings hard-coded into the text. In some ways you can say that, a bit like magic numbers, they are magic words / phrases. So you prefer to use constant identifier to store the values and pass those in instead.

This would happen often when:

• 1. a word has a special meaning, and is passed in many times in the code to have that meaning.

or

• 2. the word may be cryptic in some way and a constant identifier may be more descriptive