The const qualifier

When an identifier is declared to be const, no writes are allowed to it.

Reading const declarations

When reading a const declaration, read backwards:

const char x

x is a char that is const

const char *y

y is a pointer to a char that is const

char * const z

z is a const pointer to a char

y = "hello"; // legal, pointer is not const
*y = '\0';   // illegal, changes contents

z = "hello"; // illegal, changes pointer
*z = '\0';   // legal, contents are not const

Why use const

const enforces a certain form of type-safety. If some piece of memory isn't meant to be changed in a given scope, declare it to be const and the compiler will help you ensure that it isn't inadvertently written to.

const is mostly a defensive programming method. It can also act as a hint to the compiler to perform certain optimizations, but this happens rarely.

copyright © 2004, 2005 Emil Mikulic