const pointers in C++

A const pointer is a pointer which can’t be reassigned to another address once it is initialized.

We can create const pointer as follows:

int value{100};
int* const cptr{&value};

Using const after * creates a const pointer (unlike pointer to const where we use const before the type).

We can change the value of value variable using pointer dereferencing as it is pointing to a non-const value.

*cptr = 200; // it will work as const pointer is pointing non-const

However, we can’t reassign this pointer to point another object.

int anothervalue{1};
cptr = &anothervalue; // it will fail.

References

1. https://www.learncpp.com/cpp-tutorial/pointers-and-const/