initializing char pointers

Question

I have a char pointer which would be used to store a string. It is used later in the program.

I have declared and initialized like this:

char * p = NULL;

I am just wondering if this is good practice. I'm using gcc 4.3.3.

Answer 1

Yes, it's good idea. Google Code Style recommends:

1. To initialize all your variables even if you don't need them right now.

2. Initialize pointers by NULL, int's by 0 and float's by 0.0 -- just for better readability.

   int i = 0;
   double x = 0.0;
   char* c = NULL;