String Functions
The following are the string functions in C:
Function Description
strlen() It returns the string's length.
strnlen() It returns the specified value if the value specified is less than the string
length, otherwise the string length.
strcmp() It compares two strings and returns 0 if the strings are the same.
strncmp() It compares two strings only to n characters.
strcat() It concatenates two strings and returns the concatenated string.
strncat() It concatenates n characters of one string to another string.
strcpy() It copies one string into another.
strncpy() It copies the first n characters of one string into another.
strchr() It finds out the first occurrence of a given character in a string.
strrchr() It finds out the last occurrence of a given character in a string.
strstr() It finds out the first occurrence of a given string in a string.
strnstr() It finds out the first occurrence of a given string in a string where the
search is limited to n characters.
strcasecmp() It compares two strings without sensitivity to the case.
strncasecmp() It compares n characters of one string to another without sensitivity to
the case.
Examples of String Functions in C
Let's look at an example to understand how string functions work in C.
strlen()
Syntax
size_t strlen(const char *str)
size_t represents long unsigned int.
It takes a string (character array or character pointer) as input and
writes the length of that string without including the end character
'\0'.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[20] = "ScalerAcademy";
printf("Length of string string1: %ld", strlen(string1));
return 0;
}
Output
Length of string string1: 13
strnlen()
Syntax
size_t strnlen(const char *str, size_t maxlen)
size_t represents long unsigned int.
strnlen() take a string and a positive integer maxlen as input and
return the length of the string if maxlen is greater than the size of
the string otherwise, always return maxlen which means it only counts
the characters till str[maxlen -1].
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[20] = "ScalerAcademy";
printf("Length of string string1 when maxlen is 25: %ld \n",
strnlen(string1, 25));
printf("Length of string string1 when maxlen is 5: %ld",
strnlen(string1, 5));
}
Output
Length of string string1 when maxlen is 25: 13.
Length of string string1 when maxlen is 5: 5
strcmp()
Syntax
int strcmp(const char *str1, const char *str2)
strcmp() takes two strings as input, then compares them, and returns an
integer based on the following condition:
Expression Returns
string 1 > string 2 Positive integer
string 1 < string 2 Negative
string 1 = string 2 Zero
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char s1[20] = "ScalerAcademy"; // string1
char s2[20] = "ScalerAcademy.COM"; // string2
// comparing both the strings
if (strcmp(s1, s2) == 0) {
printf("string 1 and string 2 are equal");
} else {
printf("string 1 and 2 are different");
}
}
Output
string 1 and 2 are different
strncmp()
Syntax
int strncmp(const char *str1, const char *str2, size_t n)
size_t is for long unsigned int.
It compares only the first n characters of both the strings and returns
an integer value accordingly:
Expression Returns
string 1(first n characters) > string 2(first n Positive integer
characters)
string 1(first n characters) < string 2(first n Negative
characters)
string 1(first n characters) = string 2(first n Zero
characters)
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char s1[20] = "ScalerAcademy";
char s2[20] = "ScalerAcademy.COM";
/* it only compares first 5 characters of both strings*/
if (strncmp(s1, s2, 5) == 0) {
printf("string 1 and string 2 are equal");
} else {
printf("string 1 and 2 are different");
}
}
Output
string 1 and string 2 are equal
strcat()
Syntax
char *strcat(char *str1, char *str2)
It takes two strings as input and concatenates the second string to the
first string, which means it will attach the second string to the end of
the first string and save the concatenated string to the first string.
The size of the first string should be large enough to save the result.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[10] = "Hello";
char string2[10] = "World";
strcat(string1, string2);
printf("Output string after concatenation: %s", string1);
Try it yourself
Output
Output string after concatenation: HelloWorld
strncat()
Syntax
char *strncat(char *str1, char *str2, int n)
It takes two strings as input and attaches only the first n characters
of the second string to the end of the first string.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main () {
char string1[10] = "Hello";
char string2[10] = "World";
strncat(string1,string2, 3);
printf("Concatenation using strncat: %s", string1);
}
Output
Concatenation using strncat: HelloWor
strcpy()
Syntax
char *strcpy( char *str1, char *str2)
It takes two strings as input and overwrites the data of the second
string into the first string, i.e., it copies the data of the second
string to the first string.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char s1[35] = "string 1"; // string1
char s2[35] = "I'll be copied to string 1."; // string2
strcpy(s1, s2); // copying string2 to string1
printf("String s1 is: %s", s1); // printing string1
Output
String s1 is: I'll be copied to string 1.
strncpy()
Syntax
char *strncpy( char *str1, char *str2, size_t n)
size_t is long unsigned int and n is an integer.
It takes two strings as input and overwrites the data of the first
string by the second string based on specific conditions:
If the length of string2 is greater than n, it copies only the first n
characters of string2 to string1; otherwise, it copies the entire
string2 to string1.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[30] = "string 1";
char string2[40] = "Only 12 characters will be copied.";
strncpy(string1, string2, 12);
printf("String s1 is: %s", string1);
}
Output
String s1 is: Only 12 char
strchr()
Syntax
char *strchr(char *str, int ch)
It takes a string and a character as input and finds out the first occurrence of the given character in that
string. It will return the pointer to the first occurrence of that character; if found otherwise, return Null.
Program Code 1
● When the character is present in the given string
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[30] = "I love to write.";
printf("%s", strchr(string1, 'w'));
}
Output
write.
Program code 2
● When the character is not present in the given string Notice the character 'z' is not present
in the provided string. In such a case, it returns a null value.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[30] = "I love to write blogs.";
printf("%s", strrchr(string1, 'z'));
}
Output
(null)
strrchr()
Syntax
char *strrchr(char *str, int ch)
It takes a string and a character as input and finds out the last occurrence of a given character in that string.
It will return the pointer to the last occurrence of that character if found otherwise, return Null.
Program Code 1
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[30] = "I love to write blogs.";
printf("%s", strrchr(string1, 'w'));
}
Output
write blogs.
Program Code 2
● When the character is not present in the given string Notice the character 'z' is not present
in the provided string. In such a case, it returns a null value.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[30] = "I love to write blogs.";
printf("%s", strrchr(string1, 'z'));
}
Output
(null)
strstr()
Syntax
char *strstr(char *str, char *srch_term)
It takes two strings as input and finds out the first occurrence of the second string in the first string. It will
return a pointer that points to the start of the first occurrence of the second string in the first string and a
Null if the second string is not present in the first string.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[70] = "You are reading string functions.";
printf("Output string is: %s", strstr(string1, "string"));
}
Output
Output string is: string functions.
strcasecmp()
Syntax
strcasecmp(str1, str2)
It takes two strings as input and compares them irrespective of their case sensitivity.
If Returns
str1 < str2 Less than 0
str1 = str2 (ignoring case) 0
str1 > str2 Greater than 0
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main () {
char string1[70] = "STRING";
char string2[70]= "string";
int result;
result = strcasecmp(string1, string2);
//checking the result using conditional statements.
if (result == 0)
printf("Strings are equal.\n");
else if (result < 0)
printf("\"%s\" is less than \"%s\".\n", string1, string2);
else
printf("\"%s\" is greater than \"%s\".\n", string1, string2);
}
Output
Strings are equal.
strncasecmp()
Syntax
strncasecmp(str1, str2, n)
It takes two strings as input and compares them till n characters irrespective of their case sensitivity.
Program Code
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main() {
char string1[70] = "STRING";
char string2[70] = "steing";
int result;
result = strncasecmp(string1, string2, 3);
//checking the result using conditional statements.
if (result == 0)
printf("Strings are equal.\n");
else if (result < 0)
printf("\"%s\" is less than \"%s\".\n", string1, string2);
else
printf("\"%s\" is greater than \"%s\".\n", string1, string2);
}
Output
"STRING" is greater than "steing".
