Can I get a non-const C string back from a C++ string?

Question

Const-correctness in C++ is still giving me headaches. In working with some old C code, I find myself needing to assign turn a C++ string object into a C string and assign i

Answer 1

There is an important distinction you need to make here: is the char* to which you wish to assign this "morally constant"? That is, is casting away const-ness just a technicality, and you really will still treat the string as a const? In that case, you can use a cast - either C-style or a C++-style const_cast. As long as you (and anyone else who ever maintains this code) have the discipline to treat that char* as a const char*, you'll be fine, but the compiler will no longer be watching your back, so if you ever treat it as a non-const you may be modifying a buffer that something else in your code relies upon.

If your char* is going to be treated as non-const, and you intend to modify what it points to, you must copy the returned string, not cast away its const-ness.