Strings In C

String in C language is an array of characters that is terminated by \0 (null character).
There are two ways to declare string in c language.
  • By char array
    •
  • By string literal
    •  Let's see the example of declaring string by char array in C language.
    char ch[12]={'c', 'a', 't', 'c', 'h', 'm', 'e', 'c', 'o', 'd', 'e', 'r', '\0'};
    As you know well, array index starts from 0, so it will be represented as in the figure given below


    While declaring string, size is not mandatory. So you can write the above code as given below:
    char ch[ ] = {'c', 'a', 't', 'c', 'h', 'm', 'e', 'c', 'o', 'd', 'e', 'r', '\0'};
    You can also define string by string literal in C language. For example:
    char ch[ ] = "catchmecoder";
    In such case, '\0' will be appended at the end of string by the compiler.

    Difference between char array and string literal

    The only difference is that string literal cannot be changed whereas string declared by char array can be changed.

    String Example in C

    Let's see a simple example to declare and print string. The '%s' is used to print string in c language.
    #include <stdio.h>   
void main ()  
 {  
char ch[13] = {'c','a','t','c','h','m','e','c','o','d','e','r','\0'};  
char ch2[13] = "catchmecoder";  
printf("Char Array element  is: %s\n", ch);  
printf("String Literal element is: %s\n", ch2);  
 }
Output:
Char Array element is: catchmecoder
String Literal element is: catchmecoder

    C gets() and puts() functions

    The gets() function reads string from user and puts() function prints the string. Both functions are defined in header file.
    Let's see a simple program to read and write string using gets() and puts() functions.

    #include <stdio.h>   
void main() {  
char name[60];   
printf("Enter your name: ");  
gets(name);  //reads string from user  
printf("Your name is: ");  
puts(name);  //displays string  
 }
   
Output:
Enter your name: pramesh gupta
Your name is: pramesh gupta

    String Functions

    There are many important string functions defined in "string.h" library.

    No.FunctionDescription
    1strlen(string_name)returns the length of string name.
    2strcpy(destination, source)copies the contents of source string to destination string.
    3strcat(first_string, second_string)concats or joins first string with second string. The result of the string is stored in first string.
    4strcmp(first_string, second_string)compares the first string with second string. If both strings are same, it returns 0.
    5strrev(string)returns reverse string.
    6strlwr(string)returns string characters in lowercase.
    7strupr(string)returns string characters in uppercase.

    C String Length: strlen() function

    The strlen() function returns the length of the given string. It doesn't count null character '\0'.

    #include <stdio.h>   
void main()  
 {  
char ch[30] = {'c',  'a',  't',  'c',  'h',  'm',  'e ', 'c',  'o',  'd',  'e', 'r', '\0'};  
printf("Length of string is: %d",strlen(ch));  
}  
Output:
Length of string is: 12

    C Copy String: strcpy()

    The strcpy(destination, source) function copies the source string in destination.

    #include <stdio.h>   
void main()  
 {  
char ch[30] = {'c',  'a',  't',  'c',  'h',  'm',  'e', 'c',  'o',  'd',  'e', 'r', '\0'};
char ch2[30];
strcpy(ch2,ch);
printf("element of  second string is:  %s",ch2);    
}  
Output:
element of  second string is: catchmecoder