const pointer to const memory… what?

After several years I found lots of people – and me 🙂 – still confused about the pointer declarations – if it contains some const keyword somewhere.

So const char * or char const * or char * const still confusing.

To keep it simple: read it backward as this excellent post describes: Clockwise/Spiral rule

So:

• const char * is equivalent to char const * : pointer to a constant character (character constant). It means you can change the pointer – so it points to somewhere else – but cannot change the memory at that address.
• char * const : constant pointer to a character. It means you cannot change the pointer value – but you can change the memory at that address
• const char * const which is equal to char const * const is the one where you cannot change anything – constant pointer to a constant character.