Re: [Dev-C++] pointer help

[Nicolas R. <ni...@bo...>]

> I don't inderstand this. It came from a book I am reading
>
> char* pszMonth;
> pszMonth = "January";
>
> how can you put a string in a char pointer. A char like that should 
> only hold one character


Your book is using C string conventions. C has no special data type for 
character strings; instead they are stored as arrays of characters. 
(Indeed, arrays and pointers have lots in common -- hint: the char 
pointer is pointing to the 1st char of the array). C provides special 
support for character arrays that do not extend to other kinds of 
arrays. For example, C provides ways to print them (in printf and other 
output statements) and to read them (in scanf and other input 
statements). C also provides a number of library routines that compute 
the lengths of strings, append two strings, and the like. It also 
provides special syntax to "assign" strings to char pointers, which is 
where that strange assignment comes to life.

C++ provides higher level abstractions, such as a proper 'string' class 
and a 'vector' container class.

I'd advise you to

a) google for:  c string pointer array char
     (e.g. see http://www.sepsis.za.net/programming_c07.html)

b) google for:  c++ string class
     (e.g. see http://www.bgsu.edu/departments/compsci/docs/string.html)

c) google for:  c++ faq "arrays are evil"
     (e.g. see 
http://www.parashift.com/c++-faq-lite/containers-and-templates.html)

Good luck!
N.