CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cstring
Erica Valdez
Erica Valdez

Reputation: 13

printing improper number of characters in a string

#include <stdio.h>

int main()
{
        char * name  = "bob";
        int x = sizeof(name);
        printf("%s is %d characters\n",name,x);
}

I have the above code. I want to print the number of characters in this string. It keeps printing 8 instead of 3. Why?

Upvotes: 1

Views: 50

Answers (3)

user2951336
user2951336

Reputation:

sizeof() returns byte size. Specifically, it gives the bytes required to store an object of the type of the operand. In this case sizeof() is returning the byte size of a pointer to a string, which on your computer is 8 bytes, or, 64-bits.

strlen() is what you are looking for:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h> // include string.h header to use strlen()

int main()
{
        char * name  = "bob";
        int x = strlen(name); // use strlen() here
        printf("%s is %d characters\n",name,x);
}

Upvotes: 2

John Bode
John Bode

Reputation: 123458

strlen gives you the number of characters in a string. sizeof gives you the size of the object in bytes. On your system, an object of type char * is apparently 8 bytes wide.

Upvotes: 0

Aniket Inge
Aniket Inge

Reputation: 25705

use strlen for finding the length of a string.

Each character is atleast 1 byte wide. It prints 8 because sizeof gets a pointer to bob and, on your machine, a pointer is 8 bytes wide.

Upvotes: 1

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