How to shallow copy char* to std::string?

Question

I wonder if it's possible to shallow copy char* to std::string.

Answer 1

If you aim at constructing a std::string object with a char* without copying the data: no, this is impossible. std::string owns its resources, it can't refer to another char*. This is also why the appropriate constructor takes a const char*, not a char*: it doesn't modify the data, but copies it.

In C++17, you have std::string_view which is exactly meant for referring to a string (literal) that it doesn't own. Note that this view isn't intended to modify the data, its hence constructed with const char* again, not char*.