Concatenating String Literals and Objects: Exploring the ' ' Operator

In his book "Accelerated C ," Koenig introduces the concept of using the ' ' operator to concatenate string literals and objects. While this may seem straightforward, there are subtle nuances that can lead to unexpected results.

The Puzzle: Two Examples, One Success, One Failure

Consider the following two examples:

const string hello = "Hello";
const string message = hello   ",world"   "!";

const string exclam = "!";
const string message = "Hello"   ",world"   exclam;

The first example successfully concatenates the three strings. However, the second example fails.

Understanding the Error: Operator Associativity and Left-to-Right Evaluation

To understand the discrepancy, we must consider the associativity of the ' ' operator. The ' ' operator is left-to-right associative, meaning it evaluates from left to right. This can lead to unexpected behavior if not taken into account.

In the second example, the expression can be parenthesized as:

const string message = ("Hello"   ",world")   exclam;

As you can see, the two string literals, "Hello" and ",world," are concatenated first. This results in a string literal, which cannot be further concatenated with the string object "exclam."

Solutions: Dealing with the ' ' Operator's Behavior

There are several ways to resolve this issue:

• Using a std::string Object as One of the Arguments:

const string message = string("Hello")   ",world"   exclam;

• Explicit Parenthesizing to Control Evaluation Order:

const string message = "Hello"   (",world"   exclam);

Why Can't You Concatenate Two String Literals?

The ' ' operator is designed to concatenate string objects, not string literals. A string literal is an array of characters, and when used in an expression, it is converted to a pointer to its initial element. Adding two pointers, as in the case of concatenating string literals, is not allowed in C .

String Literal Concatenation by Juxtaposition

While you cannot concatenate string literals using the ' ' operator, you can combine them by placing them side-by-side:

"Hello" ",world"

This is equivalent to:

"Hello,world"

This is useful for breaking up long string literals onto multiple lines.