What is the difference between C constants and C literals?

TL;DR: In C, literals (of which there are only string literals) are lvalues; we can take their address. All other “literals” (numbers, characters) are constants in C; this means they are rvalues and we cannot take their address.

In languages other than C, I tend to use “constant” and “literal” interchangeably. In C, they mean different things.

// Some constants
int i = 5;        // `5` is a constant
char c = 'x';     // `x` is a constant
uint64_t j = 45;  // `45` is a constant
char * s = NULL;  // `NULL` is a constant

// Some literals (actually, just string literals)
char * str = "hello";  // "hello" is a string literal

A literal is an lvalue: an expression with an address. This is why we have “string literals” and not “string constants”. The string literal is allocated in memory; we can take its address.

A constant is an rvalue: an expression without an address. Numbers and characters are literals. Taking the address of 45 has no meaning.

Tagged #c, #programming, #semantics.

👋 I'm Jim, a full-stack product engineer. Want to build an amazing product and a profitable business? Read more about me or Get in touch!

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