Do string constants persist out of scope?

[Adam Kao]

If I define a string constant in a procedure and then pass it back
out, does the pointer I get remain valid?  I'm confused because
strings are really char pointers.  I tried it in a test program and it
worked, but I'm a little worried it might be accidental.  I guess what
I'm really asking is whether the compiler permanently allocates memory
for all the string constants in the whole program.

Thanks in advance,

Adam