CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c++c
FrozenHeart
FrozenHeart

Reputation: 20726

C-string definition in C / C++

What really means by word "C-string" in C / C++? Pointer to char? Array of characters? Or maybe const-pointer / const array of characters?

Upvotes: 9

Views: 14746

Answers (4)

md5
md5

Reputation: 23699

According to the standard (C11 §7.1.1), a string is a contiguous sequence of characters terminated by and including the first null character, ie an array of character terminated by '\0'.

Upvotes: 3

Mark Byers
Mark Byers

Reputation: 837926

A C-string is a series of characters that is terminated by a 0 byte, otherwise known as a null terminated string. It can be accessed either as an array (char[]) or as a pointer to the first character (char *).

In C++ there is another type of string called std::string which does not need to be terminated by a 0 byte. The term C-string is often used by C++ programmers when they mean a null terminated string rather than the std::string type.

Upvotes: 3

R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE

Reputation: 215193

A "C string" is an array of characters that ends with a 0 (null character) byte. The array, not any pointer, is the string. Thus, any terminal subarray of a C string is also a C string. Pointers of type char * (or const char *, etc.) are often thought of as pointers to strings, but they're actually pointers to an element of a string, usually treated as a pointer to the initial element of a string.

Upvotes: 8

user529758
user529758

Reputation:

Const or non-const array of characters, terminated by a trailing 0 char. So all of the following are C strings:

char string_one[] = { 'H', 'e', 'l', 'l', 'o', 0 };
char string_two[] = "Hello"; // trailing 0 is automagically inserted by the compiler
const char *string_three = "Hello";

Upvotes: 7

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