Sizeof string literal

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The following code

#include <iostream>    
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    const char* const foo = "f";
    const char bar[] = "b";
    cout << "sizeof(string literal) = " << sizeof( "f" ) << endl;
    cout << "sizeof(const char* const) = " << sizeof( foo ) << endl;
    cout << "sizeof(const char[]) = " << sizeof( bar ) << endl;
}

outputs

sizeof(string literal) = 2
sizeof(const char* const) = 4
sizeof(const char[]) = 2

on a 32bit OS, compiled with GCC.

  1. Why does sizeof calculate the length of (the space needed for) the string literal ?
  2. Does the string literal have a different type (from char* or char[]) when given to sizeof ?
2 Answers
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