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From: guy%gorodish@Sun.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: have I found a bug in K&R?
Message-ID: <29486@sun.uucp>
Date: Tue, 29-Sep-87 21:43:02 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.29486
Posted: Tue Sep 29 21:43:02 1987
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(This is a C question, not a UNIX question.)

> on page 110 of K&R it says:
>   
>     "...(argv) is a pointer to an array of character strings..."
> 
> but since the primary-expression operator [] has higher priority than
> the unary operator *, then isn't it more correct to say that argv
> (which is defined as char *argv[]) is an array of pointers to character
> strings?

No, it is more correct to say that "argv" is a pointer to the first element of
an array of pointers to "char", which can be read as "'argv' is a pointer to
the first element of an array of pointers to character strings".  "argv" is
*properly* declared as "char **argv"; however, if you declare an array of type
X as an argument to a function, the compiler interprets that as a declaration
of a pointer to type X instead.
	Guy Harris
	{ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy
	guy@sun.com