I'm a beginner and I absolutely can't figure out how some string returns a pointer to its location in memory?
char* str = "okay"
why is it a pointer? After all, we don't even use new
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Anna_Wiz2006
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3BTW: `char* str = "okay"` is not legal in modern c++ (since the 2011 standard). – drescherjm Mar 16 '22 at 17:09
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Also a string in c++ is `std::string` you are studying c-strings – drescherjm Mar 16 '22 at 17:11
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just an example – Anna_Wiz2006 Mar 16 '22 at 17:11
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A pointer refers to a location in your computer's memory. Your program can have objects in memory without ever using `new`. – Drew Dormann Mar 16 '22 at 17:12
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1Because it is an array of chars. For more details better to read one of those: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list – pptaszni Mar 16 '22 at 17:12
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The variable `str` is a pointer because you used `*` in `char *`. If you want a single character use `char` without the `'*'`. If you want text (more than one character), use `std::string`. – Thomas Matthews Mar 16 '22 at 17:35
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how is char able to store an address
It doesn't, it's a pointer to a char.
how some string returns a pointer to its location
String literals are (generally) constant character arrays stored in a read-only section in memory that's mapped to a section in your executable. More details are OS-specific, but what's important is that string literals decay into a pointer to their 1st character, just like any other array.
After all, we don't even use
new
new and malloc() return pointers, sure, but they're not the only source of pointers. As you see in your code, string literals are a source of pointers as well, and nothing stops you from writing stuff like char *p = (char *)0x800; if you want, which is something you see often in kernel or real-mode programming.
Blindy
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