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void foo(int x) {
  x = 3; /* persistsvisible only untilin the function exits  */
  /* ... */
}

Pointers behave in a similar fashion. A function may change a pointer to reference a different object, or NULL, yet that change is discarded once the function exits. Consequently, declaring a pointer as const is unnecessary.

void foo(int *x) {
  x = NULL; /* persistsVisible only untilin the function exits  */
  /* ... */
}

Noncompliant Code Example

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If the function parameter is const-qualified, any attempt to modify the pointed-to value results in a fatal diagnosticshould cause the compiler to issue a diagnostic message.

void foo(const int *x) {
  if (x != NULL) {
    *x = 3; /* compiler should generatesgenerate compilerdiagnostic errormessage */
  }
  /* ... */
}

As a result, the const violation must be resolved before the code can be compiled without a diagnostic message being issued.

Compliant Solution

This compliant solution addresses the const violation by not modifying the constant argument:

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char *strcat_nc(char *s1, char *s2);

char *c_str1 = "c_str1";
const char *c_str2 = "c_str2";
char c_str3[9] = "c_str3";
const char c_str4[9] = "c_str4";

strcat_nc(c_str3, c_str2);	  /* Compiler warns that c_str2 is const */
strcat_nc(c_str1, c_str3);  /* Attempts to overwrite string literal! */
strcat_nc(c_str4, c_str3);  /* Compiler warns that c_str4 is const */

The function behaves the same as strcat(), but the compiler generates warnings in incorrect locations and fails to generate them in correct locations.

In the first strcat_nc() call, the compiler generates a warning about attempting to cast away const on c_str2 because strcat_nc() does not modify its second argument yet fails to declare it const.

In the second strcat_nc() call, the compiler compiles the code with no warnings, but the resulting code will attempt to modify the "c_str1" literal. This violates STR05-C. Use pointers to const when referring to string literals and STR30-C. Do not attempt to modify string literals.

In the final strcat_nc() call, the compiler generates a warning about attempting to cast away const on c_str4, which is a valid warning.

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char *strcat(char *s1, const char *s2); 

char *c_str1 = "c_str1";
const char *c_str2 = "c_str2";
char c_str3[9] = "c_str3";
const char c_str4[9] = "c_str4";

strcat(c_str3, c_str2); 

/* Args reversed to prevent overwriting string literal */ 
strcat(c_str3, c_str1);  
strcat(c_str4, c_str3);  /* Compiler warns that c_str4 is const */

The const-qualification of the second argument s2 eliminates the spurious warning in the initial invocation but maintains the valid warning on the final invocation in which a const-qualified object is passed as the first argument (which can change). Finally, the middle strcat() invocation is now valid, as c_str3 is a valid destination string and may be safely modified.

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