Question

When should I use std::string and when should I use char* to manage arrays of chars in C++?

It seems you should use char* if performance(speed) is crucial and you’re willing to accept some of a risky business because of the memory management.

Are there other scenarios to consider?

Answer 1

You can pass std::strings by reference if they are large to avoid copying, or a pointer to the instance, so I don’t see any real advantage using char pointers.

I use std::string/wstring for more or less everything that is actual text. char * is useful for other types of data though and you can be sure it gets deallocated like it should. Otherwise std::vector<char> is the way to go.

There are probably exceptions to all of this.