Thread: Modifying a string literal

Hi everyone. I'm trying to learn C99. In this program, which elements are non-conforming? GCC compiles and runs it, but gives me exc_bad_access on the *(p+1).

Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
	char *p = "Hello mother";
	char  a[] = "Hello father";
	
	*(p+1)='u';
	a[1]='u';
	
	void* b = a;
	b++;
	
	printf("%s\n", p);
	printf("%s\n", a);
	
	return 0;
}

That's because you're trying to modify a literal string. p is just a pointer to it.

The second way will work, but you're going to run into buffer overflows if you either try to replace it with a longer string or use strcat() on it...

It's usually better to allocate string space somewhat generously...

Code:

char p[100] = "Hello Mother";

Now you've got some wiggle room...