Converting String to Cstring in C++

vector<char> toVector( const std::string& s ) {
  string s = "apple";  
  vector<char> v(s.size()+1);
  memcpy( &v.front(), s.c_str(), s.size() + 1 );
  return v;
}
vector<char> v = toVector(std::string("apple"));

// what you were looking for (mutable)
char* c = v.data();

.c_str() works for immutable. The vector will manage the memory for you.

.c_str() returns a const char*. If you need a mutable version, you will need to produce a copy yourself.