I know, the \0 on the end of the character array is a must if you use the character array with functions who expect \0, like cout, otherwise unexpected random characters appear.
My question is, if i use the character array only in my functions, reading it char by char, do i need to store the \0 at the end?
Also, is it a good idea to fill only characters and leave holes on the array?
Consider the following:
char chars[5];
chars[1] = 15;
chars[2] = 17;
chars[3] = 'c';
//code using the chars[1] and chars[3], but never using the chars
int y = chars[1]+chars[3];
cout << chars[3] << " is " << y;
Does the code above risk unexpected errors?
EDIT: edited the example.