Diagnostic Quiz

Problems

8. Compilation Error vs. Runtime Error

Suppose we have the following array declaration:

long per_burger[5] = {3, 2, 1, 15, 5};

Try out the following code. Which one would generate a compilation error?

See the difference between compilation error and runtime error at Compilation Error vs. Run-Time Error in Lec 03.

11. const in C

Consider the function declaration below:

void bar(const long a[]) { }

Which of the following statement is FALSE?

In C, the const keyword applies to the thing immediately to its left (or, if there's nothing to the left, it applies to the thing to its right).

So, in this problem, it means we cannot change any element in the array a. But since a is also a pointer variable (See more explanation here about why it is not merely an address due to array decay), we can set it to another array.

const long* a means a is a pointer to const, and any attempt to write via a will error out. e.g. *a=10is invalid.

This is different from long* const a, which declares a const pointer a that cannot be reassigned to point to another place. e.g. a=<pointer> is invalid.

Tips

1. A stack frame stores function parameters and local variables.

2. When you access the "out of bound" index of an array, it won't generate compilation error, but it may generate runtime error or undefined behavior.