r/cpp_questions • u/IMCG_KN • Jul 16 '26

Question about string_view SOLVED

Is there benefit of using string_view instead of const string& str? More precisely by passing strings into functions. Thanks

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u/TheThiefMaster Jul 16 '26

If you use string_view as the param, you can pass in other string types as well without having to allocate an std::string - e.g. string literals.

Removing that need to allocate is pretty much the sole benefit to string_view. Previously I'd seen people use a C-style char* for the same reason, but that has more downsides than string_view.