What is the difference between char * const and const char *?

Question

What\'s the difference between:

char * const 

and

const char *

Answer 1

// Some more complex constant variable/pointer declaration.
// Observing cases when we get error and warning would help
// understanding it better.

int main(void)
{
  char ca1[10]= "aaaa"; // char array 1
  char ca2[10]= "bbbb"; // char array 2

  char *pca1= ca1;
  char *pca2= ca2;

  char const *ccs= pca1;
  char * const csc= pca2;
  ccs[1]='m';  // Bad - error: assignment of read-only location ‘*(ccs + 1u)’
  ccs= csc;    // Good

  csc[1]='n';  // Good
  csc= ccs;    // Bad - error: assignment of read-only variable ‘csc’

  char const **ccss= &ccs;     // Good
  char const **ccss1= &csc;    // Bad - warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type

  char * const *cscs= &csc;    // Good
  char * const *cscs1= &ccs;   // Bad - warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type

  char ** const cssc=   &pca1; // Good
  char ** const cssc1=  &ccs;  // Bad - warning: initialization from incompatible pointer type
  char ** const cssc2=  &csc;  // Bad - warning: initialization discards ‘const’
                               //                qualifier from pointer target type

  *ccss[1]= 'x'; // Bad - error: assignment of read-only location ‘**(ccss + 8u)’
  *ccss= ccs;    // Good
  *ccss= csc;    // Good
  ccss= ccss1;   // Good
  ccss= cscs;    // Bad - warning: assignment from incompatible pointer type

  *cscs[1]= 'y'; // Good
  *cscs= ccs;    // Bad - error: assignment of read-only location ‘*cscs’
  *cscs= csc;    // Bad - error: assignment of read-only location ‘*cscs’
  cscs= cscs1;   // Good
  cscs= cssc;    // Good

  *cssc[1]= 'z'; // Good
  *cssc= ccs;    // Bad - warning: assignment discards ‘const’
                 //                qualifier from pointer target type
  *cssc= csc;    // Good
  *cssc= pca2;   // Good
  cssc= ccss;    // Bad - error: assignment of read-only variable ‘cssc’
  cssc= cscs;    // Bad - error: assignment of read-only variable ‘cssc’
  cssc= cssc1;   // Bad - error: assignment of read-only variable ‘cssc’
}