Pointer to pointer to const
Posted Nov 3, 2006 1:40 UTC (Fri) by
xoddam (subscriber, #2322)
In reply to:
Java 'final', C 'const' by jzbiciak
Parent article:
Buried in warnings
That would be a fine idea, if you didn't run into "C++ Gotcha #32" all the
time when trying to do this (it's just as much a gotcha in C as it is in
C++). As long as you don't try to take the address of your const
pointer, you're safe. But you can't mix const and non-const indirect
pointers, because of aliasing problems.
Of course said aliasing problems might all be hidden deep inside the
library (and/or the imagination of the compiler) and users shouldn't have
to care at all -- but if it causes a problem for the developer, they're
far more likely to drop 'const' than to suppress compiler warnings with
casts and hope everything is otherwise correct.
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