function argument type

[anhnha]

I am having a problem about function argument type. Please help me understand this.
Here is the definition of printOnNewLine():

 void printOnNewLine(char*x)
         { 
              cout << x << endl;
         }

printOnNewLine("hello");

I am wondering why printOnNewLine("hello") work.
Is "hello" considered as a pointer?
I think it is not. "hello" is a string and there is a pointer that points to the first character of that string (the character 'h').
Let's assume that the pointer is pS with the address value, say 0x000FE.
Then what will be printed on the screen, 0x000FE or the string "hello".

[Hashirama senju]

My converter gives a warning: Deprecated conversion from string constant to 'char*'.

[anhnha]

Thanks, I am reading this from an online lecture and it is really confusing.
Here is another example about the sum function:

 #include <iostream>
using namespace std;
 int sum(const int array[], const int length) 
{
long sum = 0;
 for(int i = 0; i < length; sum += array[i++]);
 return sum;
 }
 int main() 
{
 int arr[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7};
 cout << "Sum: " << sum(arr, 7) << endl;
 return 0;
}

Why not just write the sum function as follows:

 #include <iostream>
 using namespace std;
 int sum(const int*array, const int length) 
{
long sum = 0;
 for(int i = 0; i < length; sum += array[i++]);
 return sum;
 }
 int main() 
{
 int arr[] = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7};
 cout << "Sum: " << sum(arr, 7) << endl;
 return 0;
}

[anhnha]

Could anyone explain why?
"hello" is not a pointer here. Why can we put it into the function?

[firedraco]

"hello" is a pointer. In particular, it is a const char*. It is a pointer to the first char in memory where the characters 'h' 'e' 'l' 'l' 'o' '\0' are stored.

[anhnha]

Well, thanks! That surprises me!

I know the declaration below with str is a pointer to the first char in memory of "hello" but never thought that "hello" is also a pointer to the first char of the string!

char * str = "hello";