title: initializing char pointers
body: <p>I have a char pointer which would be used to store a string. It is used later in the program.</p>
  
  <p>I have declared and initialized like this:</p>
  
  <pre><code>char * p = NULL;
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I am just wondering if this is good practice. I'm using gcc 4.3.3.</p>