@rolfl has mentioned some great points, so I won't repeat those. I'll address some C++-specific things I've found, keeping in mind that Boost and C++11 shouldn't be mentioned.

• These:

    using std::cout;
    using std::endl;
    using std::string;
  

  are okay to use, but I'd still use std:: where needed, especially if this list ends up getting longer. But this is still better than having using namespace std.

• For this:

    int elements = sizeof(test_strings) / sizeof(test_strings[0]);
  

  elements should be of type std::size_t, which is the return type of the sizeof operator.

  Moreover, you shouldn't be needing to do this in C++ when you have access to the standard library. You can instead have an std::vector of std::strings instead of char* [].

  This is what test_strings would look like:

    std::vector<std::string> test_strings = { /* string 1 */, /* string n */ };
  

  To get the size, just use size():

    std::vector<std::string>::size_type elements = test_strings.size();
  

  This type should also be used when incrementing through the number of elements.

  I've also done a quick test here.

@rolfl has mentioned some great points, so I won't repeat those. I'll address some C++-specific things I've found, keeping in mind that Boost and C++11 shouldn't be mentioned.

• These using statements:

    using std::cout;
    using std::endl;
    using std::string;
  

  are okay to use, but I'd still use std:: where needed, especially if this list ends up getting longer. But this is still better than having using namespace std.

• Regarding the use of char* []:

  For this:

    int elements = sizeof(test_strings) / sizeof(test_strings[0]);
  

  elements should be of type std::size_t, which is the return type of the sizeof operator. You should also give it a more accurate name, such as numberOfElements.

  Moreover, you shouldn't be needing to do this in C++ when you have access to the standard library. You can instead have an std::vector of std::strings instead of char* [].

  For instance, this is what test_strings would look like:

    std::vector<std::string> test_strings = { /* string 1 */, /* string n */ };
  

  To get the size, just use size():

    std::vector<std::string>::size_type elements = test_strings.size();
  

  This type should also be used when incrementing through the number of elements.

  Instead of using test_strings[0] to access the first element, you can use front():

    test_strings.front();
  

  I've also done a quick example test of all this here.