What is a String?
A string is an array of characters ending with a null character \0.
Example:
char name[] = “Alice”;
Equivalent to:
char name[] = {‘A’,’l’,’i’,’c’,’e’,’\0′};
String Input and Output:
char name[20];
scanf(“%s”, name);
printf(“Hello %s”, name);
- scanf() does not read spaces. Use gets() / fgets() if spaces are needed.
- Common String Functions (from <string.h>):
|
Function |
Purpose |
Example |
|
strlen() |
Returns length of string |
strlen(“Hello”) → 5 |
|
strcpy() |
Copies one string to another |
strcpy(str2, str1) |
|
strcmp() |
Compares two strings |
strcmp(s1, s2) |
|
strcat() |
Concatenates (joins) two strings |
strcat(s1, s2) |
Difference: Character Array vs String
|
Character Array |
String Literal |
|
char name[5] = {‘A’,’B’,’C’,’\0′}; |
char name[] = “ABC”; |
|
Needs \0 manually |
Adds \0 automatically |