Strings

Advanced C
S_____s – Fill in the blanks please ;)

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Advanced C
Strings

A set of things tied or threaded together on a thin cord

Source: Google

String of Beads

String
Start of String
Bead
Contains n numbers of Beads String ends here
Advanced C
Strings

●
Contiguous sequence of characters
●
Stores printable ASCII characters and its extensions
●
End of the string is marked with a special character, the
null character '\0'
●
'\0' is implicit in strings enclosed with “”
●
Example
“You know, now this is what a string is!”
Advanced C
Strings
●
Constant string
– Also known as string literal
– Such strings are read only
– Usually, stored in read only (code or text segment) area
– String literals are shared
●
Modifiable String
– Strings that can be modified at run time
– Usually, such strings are stored in modifiable memory
area (data segment, stack or heap)
– Such strings are not shared
Advanced C
Strings - Initialization
001_example.c
char char_array[5] = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O'}; Character Array
char str1[6] = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O', '\0'}; String
char str2[] = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O', '\0'}; Valid
char str3[6] = {“H”, “E”, “L”, “L”, “O”}; Invalid
char str4[6] = {“H” “E” “L” “L” “O”}; Valid
char str5[6] = {“HELLO”}; Valid
char str6[6] = “HELLO”; Valid
char str7[] = “HELLO”; Valid
char *str8 = “HELLO”; Valid
Advanced C
Strings – Memory Allocation
Example
char str1[] = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O', '\0'};
char *str2 = “Hello”;

str1 str2
‘H’ 1000 1000 996

‘E’ 1001 ? 997

‘L’ 1002 ? 998

‘L’ 1003 ? 999

‘O’ 1004 ‘H’ 1000

‘\0’ 1005 ‘E’ 1001

‘L’ 1002
‘L’ 1003
‘O’ 1004
‘\0’ 1005
Advanced C
Strings - Size
002_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
char char_array_1[5] = {'H', 'E', 'L', 'L', 'O'}; The size of the array
char char_array_2[] = “Hello”; is calculated so,
sizeof(char_array_1);
sizeof(char_array_2); 5, 6

return 0;
}

003_example.c
int main()
{
char *str = “Hello”; The size of pointer
is always constant
sizeof(str); so,
return 0; 4 (32 Bit Sys)
}
Advanced C
Strings - Size
004_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
if (sizeof(“Hello” “World”) == sizeof(“Hello”) + sizeof(“World”))
{
printf(“WoW\n”);
}
else
{
printf(“HuH\n”);
}

return 0;
}
Advanced C
Strings - Manipulations
005_example.c
#include <stdio.h>
Not possible to assign a string to a
int main()
{ array since its a constant pointer
char str1[6] = “Hello”;
char str2[6];

str2 = “World”;

char *str3 = “Hello”;

char *str4; Possible to assign a string to
a pointer since its variable
str4 = “World”;

str1[0] = 'h';
Valid. str1 contains “hello”
str3[0] = 'w';

printf(“%s\n”, srt1);
printf(“%s\n”, srt2); Invalid. str3 might be stored in
read only section.
return 0; Undefined behaviour
}
Advanced C
Strings - Sharing
006_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
char *str1 = “Hello”;
char *str2 = “Hello”;

if (str1 == str2)
{
printf(“Hoo. They share same space\n”);
}
else
{
printf(“No. They are in different space\n”);
}

return 0;
}
Advanced C
Strings - Sharing

‘H’ 100
‘E’ 101
‘L’ 102
‘L’ 103
‘O’ 104
‘\0’ 105

str1
100 800
? 801
●

str2
100 996
? 997
? 998
? 999
Advanced C
Strings – Empty String
007_example.c
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main()
{
char *str = “”;
int ret;

ret = strlen(str);
printf(“%d\n”, ret);

return 0;
}
Advanced C
Strings – Passing to Function
008_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

void print(const char *str)

{
while (*str)
{
putchar(*str++);
}
}

int main()
{
char *str = “Hello World”;

print(str);

return 0;
}
Advanced C
Strings - Reading
009_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
char str[6];

gets(str);
printf(“The string is: %s\n”, str);

return 0;
}

●
The above method is not recommend by the gcc. Will
issue warning while compilation
●
Might lead to stack smashing if the input length is greater
than array size!!
Advanced C
Strings - Reading
010_example.c
#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
char str[6];

fgets(str, 6, stdin);
printf(“The string is: %s\n”, str);

scanf(“%5[^\n], str);
printf(“The string is: %s\n”, str);

return 0;
}

●
fgets() function or selective scan with width are
recommended to read string from the user
Advanced C
Strings – DIY

●
WAP to calculate length of the string
●
WAP to copy a string
●
WAP to compare two strings
●
WAP to compare two strings ignoring case
●
WAP to check a given string is palindrome or not
 Advanced C
Strings – Library Functions

Purpose Prototype Return Values

Length size_t strlen(const char *str) String Length
Compare int strcmp(const char *str1, const char *str2) str1 < str2 → < 0
str1 > str2 → > 0
str1 = str2 → = 0
Copy char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src) Pointer to dest
Check char *strstr(const char *haystack, const char *needle) Pointer to the
String beginning of
substring
Check char *strchr(const char *s, int c) Pointer to the
Character matched char else
NULL
Merge char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src) Pointer to dest
Advanced C
Strings – Quiz

●
Can we copy 2 strings like, str1 = str2?
●
Why don't we pass the size of the string to string
functions?
●
What will happen if you overwrite the '\0' (null character)
of string? Will you still call it a string?
●
What is the difference between char *s and char s[]?
Advanced C
Strings – DIY

●
WAP to reverse a string
●
WAP to compare string2 with string1 up to n characters
●
WAP to concatenate two strings
Advanced C
Strings – DIY

●
Use the standard string functions like
– strlen
– strcpy
– strcmp
– strcat
– strstr
– strtok
Advanced C
Strings – DIY

●
WAP to print user information –
– Read : Name, Age, ID, Mobile number
– Print the information on monitor
– Print error “Invalid Mobile Number” if length of mobile
number is not 10
●
WAP to read user name and password and compare with
stored fields. Present a puzzle to fill in the banks
●
Use strtok to separate words from string
“www.emertxe.com/bangalore”