c++ string array initialization

In C++11 you can. A note beforehand: Don't new the array, there's no need for that.

First, string[] strArray is a syntax error, that should either be string* strArray or string strArray[]. And I assume that it's just for the sake of the example that you don't pass any size parameter.

#include <string>

void foo(std::string* strArray, unsigned size){
  // do stuff...
}

template<class T>
using alias = T;

int main(){
  foo(alias<std::string[]>{"hi", "there"}, 2);
}

Note that it would be better if you didn't need to pass the array size as an extra parameter, and thankfully there is a way: Templates!

template<unsigned N>
void foo(int const (&arr)[N]){
  // ...
}

Note that this will only match stack arrays, like int x[5] = .... Or temporary ones, created by the use of alias above.

int main(){
  foo(alias<int[]>{1, 2, 3});
}

Prior to C++11, you cannot initialise an array using type[]. However the latest c++11 provides(unifies) the initialisation, so you can do it in this way:

string* pStr = new string[3] { "hi", "there"};

See http://www2.research.att.com/~bs/C++0xFAQ.html#uniform-init

With support for C++11 initializer lists it is very easy:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

using Strings = vector<string>;

void foo( Strings const& strings )
{
    for( string const& s : strings ) { cout << s << endl; }
}

auto main() -> int
{
    foo( Strings{ "hi", "there" } ); 
}

Lacking that (e.g. for Visual C++ 10.0) you can do things like this:

#include <iostream>
#include <vector>
#include <string>
using namespace std;

typedef vector<string> Strings;

void foo( Strings const& strings )
{
    for( auto it = begin( strings );  it != end( strings );  ++it )
    {
        cout << *it << endl;
    }
}

template< class Elem >
vector<Elem>& r( vector<Elem>&& o ) { return o; }

template< class Elem, class Arg >
vector<Elem>& operator<<( vector<Elem>& v, Arg const& a )
{
    v.push_back( a );
    return v;
}

int main()
{
    foo( r( Strings() ) << "hi" << "there" ); 
}