How to create an array of c style string?

[glenjoker]

Hey,guys, I just read from a textbook saying that you can actually create an array of c style string like this:

  char *stringArray[] = {...}

which baffled me a lot. As I read this syntax, it should be defining an array of pointers pointing to characters. How should I correctly interpret this syntax?

[helios]

That's pretty much it.

[glenjoker]

That's pretty much it.

Thanks for replying, but I still don't get it. Are you saying that an array of pointers pointing to characters is the same thing as an array of c style strings?

[Yay295]

It's more an array of char pointers pointing to arrays of chars. An array of chars being a c style string.

[helios]

What I'm saying is that a pointer to a character is the same thing as a pointer to an array of characters, which itself may be a C style string. Some arrays of characters are not C style strings, although all C style strings are arrays of characters.

[Yay295]

Good distinction. It crossed my mind to say that, but I didn't for some reason.

[keskiverto]

Or in other words:
We do know that T * p; is a pointer. Pointer holds an address. In that address is supposedly an object of type T. The following addresses p + N*sizeof(T) might contain other objects of type T, but we have no way to be sure (unless we can see from the code that it is so).

There is no difference between pointer to single object and pointer to array. Furthermore, a pointer can be used as an iterator, which does not "own the memory", like the other uses.

C-style string is an array of characters that contains a null character to indicate the end of the array. The string can be stored in character array that is longer than the string.
For example: char foo[256] = "Hello"; // We fill only 6 chars: { 'H','e','l','l','o','\0' }


The ellipsis in this example can have much fun.
char *stringArray[] = {...}

char foo[] { "Hello" }; // local array, 6 elements, contains a C-string
char *bar = new char [6] {}; // dynamic array, 6 elements, contains a C-string (all chars are nulls)
char gaz {'F'}; // a local character, not a C-string

char *stringArray[] { foo, bar, &gaz, "world", foo+1 };
// stringArray[3] points to a C-string literal constant, which are read only
// cout << stringArray[4]; shows "ello"
// cout << *stringArray[2]; shows "F"
// cout << stringArray[2]; shows something that starts with 'F',
//    but who knows how may bytes more you see before a null? 

Obviously, you would never create such a mess; you want each pointer to have "same logical type".
Furthermore, the references to literal consts should be const: const char * words { "Hello", "world" };

[glenjoker]

To helios, Yay295 and keskiverto:
Profuse thanks to guys! Your replies really helped me a lot!!!