C++ array initialization

Question

is this form of intializing an array to all 0s

char myarray[ARRAY_SIZE] = {0} supported by all compilers? ,

if so, is there similar syntax to other types? for example

bool myBoolArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = {false}  

Answer 1

Yes, this form of initialization is supported by all C++ compilers. It is a part of C++ language. In fact, it is an idiom that came to C++ from C language. In C language = { 0 } is an idiomatic universal zero-initializer. This is also almost the case in C++.

Since this initalizer is universal, for bool array you don't really need a different "syntax". 0 works as an initializer for bool type as well, so

bool myBoolArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = { 0 }; 

is guaranteed to initialize the entire array with false. As well as

char* myPtrArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = { 0 }; 

in guaranteed to initialize the whole array with null-pointers of type char *.

If you believe it improves readability, you can certainly use

bool myBoolArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = { false }; char* myPtrArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = { nullptr }; 

but the point is that = { 0 } variant gives you exactly the same result.

However, in C++ = { 0 } might not work for all types, like enum types, for example, which cannot be initialized with integral 0. But C++ supports the shorter form

T myArray[ARRAY_SIZE] = {}; 

i.e. just an empty pair of {}. This will default-initialize an array of any type (assuming the elements allow default initialization), which means that for basic (scalar) types the entire array will be properly zero-initialized.

Answer 2

Note that the '=' is optional in C++11 universal initialization syntax, and it is generally considered better style to write :

char myarray[ARRAY_SIZE] {0}