Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ogicse!ucsd!ucbvax!galileo.berkeley.edu!jbuck
From: jbuck@galileo.berkeley.edu (Joe Buck)
Newsgroups: comp.std.c++
Subject: Re: character array initialization
Message-ID: <39503@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 10 Nov 90 20:56:44 GMT
References: <58962@microsoft.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: jbuck@galileo.berkeley.edu (Joe Buck)
Lines: 21

In article <58962@microsoft.UUCP>, petergo@microsoft.UUCP (Peter GOLDE) writes:
> In section 8.4.2, the C++ standard disallows the legal ANSI C
> initialization:
> 
> char cv[4] = "asdf";

I just checked out that section.  Gack!  Why the hell did Stroustrup
do that?  The rationale is that the string "asdf" really has five
characters (trailing null), but the meaning is obvious and ANSI C
allows it.

Ellis and Stroustrup's commentary says (p. 153):

	In this, C++ differs from ANSI C, where the example is allowed
	and is intended to be a convenience to the programmer.

What possible rationale is there for this change?

--
Joe Buck
jbuck@galileo.berkeley.edu	 {uunet,ucbvax}!galileo.berkeley.edu!jbuck