C++学习笔记——5

指针和 typedef

The use of pointers in typedefs (Section 2.6, p. 61) often leads to surprising results. Here is a question almost everyone answers incorrectly at least once. Given the following,

在 typedef（第 2.6 节）中使用指针往往会带来意外的结果。下面是一个几乎所有人刚开始时都会答错的问题。假设给出以下语句：

typedef string *pstring;
const pstring cstr;

what is the type of cstr? The simple answer is that it is a pointer to const pstring. The deeper question is: what underlying type does a pointer to const pstring represent? Many think that the actual type is

请问 cstr 变量是什么类型？简单的回答是 const pstring 类型的指针。进一步问：const pstring 指针所表示的真实类型是什么？很多人都认为真正的类型是：

const string *cstr; // wrong interpretation of const pstring cstr

That is, that a const pstring would be a pointer to a constant string. But that is incorrect.

也就是说，const pstring 是一种指针，指向 string 类型的 const 对象，但这是错误的。

The mistake is in thinking of a typedef as a textual expansion. When we declare a const pstring, the const modifies the type of pstring, which is a pointer. Therefore, this definition declares cstr to be a const pointer to string. The definition is equivalent to

错误的原因在于将 typedef 当做文本扩展了。声明 const pstring 时，const 修饰的是 pstring 的类型，这是一个指针。因此，该声明语句应该是把 cstr 定义为指向 string 类型对象的 const 指针，这个定义等价于：

// cstr is a const pointer to string
string *const cstr; // equivalent to const pstring cstr

建议：理解复杂的 const 类型的声明

Part of the problem in reading const declarations arises because the const can go either before or after the type:

阅读 const 声明语句产生的部分问题，源于 const 限定符既可以放在类型前也可以放在类型后：

string const s1; // s1 and s2 have same type,
const string s2; // they're both strings that are const

When writing const definitions using typedefs, the fact that the const can precede the type can lead to confusion as to the actual type being defined:

用 typedef 写 const 类型定义时，const 限定符加在类型名前面容易引起对所定义的真正类型的误解：

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string s;
typedef string *pstring;
const pstring cstr1 = &s; // written this way the type
is obscured
pstring const cstr2 = &s; // all three decreations are
the same type
string *const cstr3 = &s; // they're all const pointers
to string


Putting the const after pstring and reading the declaration from right to left makes it clearer that cstr2 is a const pstring, which in turn is a const pointer to string.

把 const 放在类型 pstring 之后，然后从右向左阅读该声明语句就会非常清楚地知道 cstr2 是 const pstring 类型，即指向 string 对象的 const 指针。

Unfortunately, most readers of C++ programs expect to see the const before the type. As a result, it is probably a good idea to put the const first, respecting common practice. But it can be helpful in understanding declarations to rewrite them to put the const after the type.

不幸的是，大多数人在阅读 C++ 程序时都习惯看到 const 放在类型前面。于是为了遵照惯例，只好建议编程时把 const 放在类型前面。但是，把声明语句重写为置 const 于类型之后更便于理解。