Assigning char array a value in C

Question

What is the difference between:

char fast_car[15]="Bugatti";

and

char fast_car[15];
fast_car="Bugatti";

Because the second one results with compile error:

error: incompatible types when assigning to type 'char[15]' from type 'char *'

While the first one works fine. Putting a string in array in different place than array initialisation would be helpful.

Answer 1

The first is an initialization while the second is an assignment . Since arrays aren't modifiable values in C you can't assign new values to them.

Mind you, you can modify array contents , you just can't say fast_car = ... . So the contents are modifiable, the arrays themselves are not .

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Using the same symbol = for these widely different concepts is of debatable value.

Answer 2

char fast_car[15]="Bugatti";

It says fast_car is an array and be initialized with string the "Buratti". Correct Usage :

char fast_car[15];
fast_car="Bugatti";

The first line is a declaration of char array(not initialized). Second, fast_car here is just an address(a pointer) of the first element in this array of char. The assignment of pointer fast_car to array of char "Buratti" is incorrect by difference type of value.