String in C

C Programming Strings
In C programming, a string is a sequence of characters terminated with a null character \0. For
example:
char c[] = "c string";
When the compiler encounters a sequence of characters enclosed in the double quotation marks, it
appends a null character \0 at the end by default.
How to declare a string?

Here's how you can declare strings:
char s[5];
Here, we have declared a string of 5 characters.
char c[] = "abcd";
char c[50] = "abcd";
char c[] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', '\0'};
char c[5] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', '\0'};
Let's take another example:

char c[5] = "abcde";
Here, we are trying to assign 6 characters (the last character is '\0') to a char array having 5
characters.
Assigning Values to Strings
Arrays and strings are second-class citizens in C; they do not support the assignment operator once
it is declared. For example,
char c[100];
c = "C programming";
Read String from the user

You can use the scanf() function to read a string.
The scanf() function reads the sequence of characters until it encounters whitespace (space,
newline, tab, etc.).
Example 1: scanf() to read a string

#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char name[20];
printf("Enter name: ");
scanf("%s", name);
printf("Your name is %s.", name);
return 0;
}
Output:
Enter name: Dennis Ritchie

Your name is Dennis.
gets() and puts()

Functions gets() and puts() are two string functions to take string input from the user and display it
respectively.
#include<stdio.h>
int main()
{
char name[30];
gets(name); //Function to read string from user.
printf("Name: ");
puts(name); //Function to display string.
return 0;
}
How to read a line of text?
You can use the fgets() function to read a line of string. And, you can use puts() to display
the string.
Example 2: fgets() and puts()
#include <stdio.h>
int main()
{
char name[30];
fgets(name, sizeof(name), stdin); // read string
printf("Name: ");
puts(name); // display string
return 0;
}
Output
Enter name: Tom Hanks
Name: Tom Hanks
Here, we have used fgets() function to read a string from the user.
fgets(name, sizeof(name), stdlin); // read string
The sizeof(name) results to 30. Hence, we can take a maximum of 30 characters as input which
is the size of the name string.
To print the string, we have used puts(name);.
Note: The gets() function can also be to take input from the user. However, it is removed from
the C standard.
It's because gets() allows you to input any length of characters. Hence, there might be a buffer
overflow.
Passing Strings to Functions

Strings can be passed to a function in a similar way as arrays. Learn more about passing arrays to a
function.
Example 3: Passing string to a Function

#include <stdio.h>
void displayString(char str[]);
int main()
{
char str[50];
printf("Enter string: ");
fgets(str, sizeof(str), stdin);
displayString(str); // Passing string to a function.
return 0;
}
void displayString(char str[])
{
printf("String Output: ");
puts(str);
}
String Manipulations In C Programming Using Library Functions

In this article, you'll learn to manipulate strings in C using library functions such as gets(), puts,
strlen() and more. You'll learn to get string from the user and perform operations on the string.
You need to often manipulate strings according to the need of a problem. Most, if not all, of the
time string manipulation can be done manually but, this makes programming complex and large.
To solve this, C supports a large number of string handling functions in the standard library
"string.h".
Few commonly used string handling functions are discussed below:
Function Work of Function

strlen() computes string's length
strcpy() copies a string to another
strcat() concatenates(joins) two strings
strcmp() compares two strings
strlwr() converts string to lowercase
strupr() converts string to uppercase
Strings handling functions are defined under "string.h" header file.
#include <string.h>
Note: You have to include the code below to run string handling functions.
C strcat()
In C programming, the strcat() function contcatenates (joins) two strings.
The function definition of strcat() is:
char *strcat(char *destination, const char *source)
It is defined in the string.h header file.
strcat() arguments
As you can see, the strcat() function takes two arguments:
destination - destination string

source - source string
The strcat() function concatenates the destination string and the source string, and the
result is stored in the destination string.
Example: C strcat() function

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char str1[100] = "This is ", str2[] = "programiz.com";
// concatenates str1 and str2
// the resultant string is stored in str1.
strcat(str1, str2);
puts(str1);
puts(str2);
return 0;
}
Output :
This is programiz.com
programiz.com
C strcpy() :
In this tutorial, you will learn to use the strcpy() function in C programming to copy strings (with
the help of an example).
C strcpy() :
The function prototype of strcpy() is:
char* strcpy(char* destination, const char* source);
The strcpy() function copies the string pointed by source (including the null character) to
the destination.
• The strcpy() function also returns the copied string.
The strcpy() function is defined in the string.h header file.
Example: C strcpy()
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char str1[20] = "C programming";
char str2[20];
// copying str1 to str2

strcpy(str2, str1);
puts(str2); // C programming
return 0;
}
Output :
C programming
C strlen()
The strlen() function calculates the length of a given string.
The strlen() function takes a string as an argument and returns its length. The returned value is
of type size_t (the unsigned integer type).
It is defined in the <string.h> header file.
Example: C strlen() function

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main()
{
char a[20]="Program";
char b[20]={'P','r','o','g','r','a','m','\0'};
// using the %zu format specifier to print size_t

printf("Length of string a = %zu \n",strlen(a));
printf("Length of string b = %zu \n",strlen(b));
return 0;
}
Output :
Length of string a = 7
Length of string b = 7
C strcmp()
In this tutorial, you will learn to compare two strings using the strcmp() function.
The strcmp() compares two strings character by character. If the strings are equal, the
function returns 0.
C strcmp() Prototype
The function prototype of strcmp() is:
int strcmp (const char* str1, const char* str2);
strcmp() Parameters
The function takes two parameters:
• str1 - a string
• str2 - a string
Return Value from strcmp()
Return Value Remarks

0 if strings are equal
non-zero if strings are not equal
The strcmp() function is defined in the string.h header file.
Example: C strcmp() function
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char str1[] = "abcd", str2[] = "abCd", str3[] = "abcd";
int result;
// comparing strings str1 and str2

result = strcmp(str1, str2);
printf("strcmp(str1, str2) = %d\n", result);
// comparing strings str1 and str3

result = strcmp(str1, str3);
printf("strcmp(str1, str3) = %d\n", result);
return 0;
}
Output :
strcmp(str1, str2) = 1
strcmp(str1, str3) = 0
In the program,
• strings str1 and str2 are not equal. Hence, the result is a non-zero integer.
• strings str1 and str3 are equal. Hence, the result is 0.

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C Programming Strings

How to declare a string?

Here, we have declared a string of 5 characters.

char c[] = "abcd";

char c[50] = "abcd";

char c[] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', '\0'};

char c[5] = {'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', '\0'};

Let's take another example:

Read String from the user

Example 1: scanf() to read a string

Enter name: Dennis Ritchie

gets() and puts()

How to read a line of text?

Passing Strings to Functions

Example 3: Passing string to a Function

String Manipulations In C Programming Using Library Functions

Few commonly used string handling functions are discussed below:

Function Work of Function

char *strcat(char *destination, const char *source)

It is defined in the string.h header file.

destination - destination string

Example: C strcat() function

The strcpy() function is defined in the string.h header file.

// copying str1 to str2

It is defined in the <string.h> header file.

Example: C strlen() function

// using the %zu format specifier to print size_t

Return Value Remarks

The strcmp() function is defined in the string.h header file.

Example: C strcmp() function

// comparing strings str1 and str2

// comparing strings str1 and str3

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char strcat(char destination, const char *source)