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Groups > comp.std.c > #6145

Making the element type of string literals const

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C does not allow programs to modify a string literal.

However, for historic reasons this is not reflected in their type.

E.g. this compiled, but has undefined behaviour if ever executed:

void f(void)
{
	"test"[2] = 'a';
}

It would be more consistent is the element type for string literals
would be const-qualified. And coding standards (e.g. MISRA) require the
use of const-qualified types already in e.g.

const char *c = "test"; // OK
vs.
char *c = "test"; // Allowed by C standard, not allowed by MISRA

I don't think this change would break many recent programs. So even if
the type of char string literals cannot be changed, such a change should
at least be possible for string literals of other types.

Is it worth writing a proposal for C2X?
What do you think of such a change?

Philipp

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Thread

Making the element type of string literals const Philipp Klaus Krause <pkk@spth.de> - 2020-08-14 11:34 +0200
  Re: Making the element type of string literals const David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-08-14 13:43 +0200
    Re: Making the element type of string literals const Florian Weimer <fw@deneb.enyo.de> - 2020-08-14 23:41 +0200
      Re: Making the element type of string literals const David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-08-17 15:23 +0200

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