Lesson 3	Creating const pointer arguments to functions
Objective	Examine use of keyword const to create pointer arguments

Creating const pointer Arguments to Functions

const pointer Arguments Declaration

const type * identifier

declares the identifier as a pointer whose pointed at value is constant. This construct is used when pointer arguments to functions will not have their contents modified.
So

void fcn(const int* p){
  // within here it is illegal
  // to have  *p = expression;
}

This provides "const safety" allowing the compiler to detect an error. It also allows the compiler to optimize how these arguments are passed.

Non-const pointers

Let us contrast this with a non-const pointer argument:

void fcn(int* p){
 // within here it is legal
 // to have  *p = expression;
}

Now attempting to pass a const pointer value will lead to a syntax error.

const int size = 100;  //size may not be modified
fcn(&size);  //illegal because the address
  // of a const variable is being passed to an
  // argument that allows for modification
  // of what is pointed at.

Declaring a pointer constant

We can take this one step further. The form
const type* const identifier
declares the identifier as a
pointer constant.

Examples

Here are some other examples of const variable declaration.

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