Professional way to initialize an empty string in c++

Question

Hi I want to learn a professional way to initialize an emtpy string in c++.

I could do

std::string a_string; // way_1

or

std::string a_string = ""; // way_2

But I think way_1 is fully depending on the default value defined in std package. To me, it is not an explicit declaration, and it might need to be changed if the codes of std::string is changed in the future. way_2 to me is not directly but using "" which is equivalent to an empty string. To me, a built-in empty string is professional, like nullptr for initializing a pointer.

Do you know how would C++ professional programmers initialize an empty string?

Thanks

Take a look at this interesting post about empty strings: survex.com/~olly/blog/coding/empty-strings-in-c%2B%2B.html — xander
– xander, Commented Dec 21, 2017 at 9:37
There is no such thing as "std package". The string class is a part of the standard library defined in the language standard. The default value of the string is defined in the language standard. If you don't trust the standard, don't use the language. — n. m. could be an AI
– n. m. could be an AI, Commented Dec 21, 2017 at 9:46
If I wanted to provide an explicit initializer for an empty string, I would use {}: std::string a_string{}; or std::string a_string = {}; or auto a_string = std::string{};. — Casey
– Casey, Commented Dec 23, 2017 at 17:41

Sebastian Redl · Accepted Answer · 2017-12-21 09:47:37Z

But I think way_1 is fully depending on the default value defined in std package. To me, it is not an explicit declaration, and it might need to be changed if the codes of std::string is changed in the future.

This is faulty reasoning. The default value of std::string is defined by the C++ standard and is just as stable as every other part of the language. If you are worried about it changing, then you should also be worrying about std::string disappearing completely, or the meaning of "" changing, or the meaning of the initialization with the empty string changing.

If you are going for "professional", then I, if I saw a programmer using the explicit form, would wonder whether this programmer doesn't know what the default initialization of such a fundamental type as std::string does, and therefore what else this programmer might not know.

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