cstring.rst

CString

Introduction

Whilst use of char* pointers is very common in Sming code, it is generally advisable to avoid pointers in C++ where possible.

The STL provides class templates such as unique_ptr which deals with memory alllocation and de-allocation to avoid issues with memory leaks.

The CString class implements this on a char[] and adds some additional methods which are similar to the :cpp:class:`String` class.

String vs. CString

:cpp:class:`String` objects each require a minimum of 24 bytes of RAM, and always contain a length field. A CString is much simpler and contains only a char* pointer, so a NULL string is only 4 bytes.

When storing arrays or lists of strings (or objects containing those strings) which change infrequently, such as fixed configuration data, use a CString for memory efficiency.

API Documentation

.. doxygenclass:: CString
   :members: