CS1101: Foundations of Programming

Strings

Dept. of Computer Science & Engineering

IIT Patna 1
 Integer array
• All the data items constituting the group share the same name
int a[10];
• Individual elements are accessed by specifying the index
• In a similar manner, we can define character array
char x[10];

x[0] x[1] x[2] x[3] x[4] x[5] x[6] x[7] x[8] x[9]

IIT Patna 2
 Character arrays and Strings
• char x[]={'a','r','r','a','y','\0'};
• c[0] gets the value 'a', c[4] - 'y' and c[5] receives NULL (’\0’) character
• Null terminated character arrays are also referred as null terminated strings or
simply strings
• Strings can be initialized in the following manner also
char x[6] = "array"; or char x[]= "array";
• Compiler automatically puts the trailing null character at the end if you define
like above
• You can have a bigger size array to store string like ”array”
• A string ends as soon as it encounters NULL character
• The size of the array should be at least one more than the length of the string
it stores
IIT Patna 3
 String literals
• For individual character C uses '' and for strings it uses ""
• String literal values are represented by sequence of characters between ""
• Example
• "IIT Patna"
• "" - empty string
• "a" versus 'a'
• 'a' - is single character value (stored in 1 byte) as the ascii value for letter a
• "a" - is an array with 2 characters, first is a, second is \0

IIT Patna 4
 Reading strings
• %s reads a string into character array given the array name of start address
• It ends the string with the special null character \0
• scanf with %s can read a string without any whitespace (blank, tab, linebreak)
• Input assumed to end if whitespace is encountered

int main(){
char str[100];
scanf("%s",str);
printf("str = %s\n",str);
return 0;
}

IIT Patna 5
 Length of string
int main(){
char str[100];
int i, len=0;
scanf("%s",str); Output:
printf("str = %s\n",str); Parthasarathi
for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++) str = Parthasarathi
len++; len = 13
printf("len = %d\n",len);
return 0;
}

The character strings read in %s format end with '\0'.

IIT Patna 6
 Counting number of a’s
int main(){
char str[100];
int i, count=0;
scanf("%s",str);
Output:
printf("str = %s\n",str);
Parthasarathi
for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++)
str = Parthasarathi
if( str[i] == 'a')
count = 4
count++;
printf("count = %d\n",count);
return 0;
}

IIT Patna 7
 Palindrome
• A palindrome is a word, sentence, verse, or even number that reads the same
backward or forward.
• Example: ”madam”, ”adabcbada”, etc.

IIT Patna 8
 Palindrome
• A palindrome is a word, sentence, verse, or even number that reads the same
backward or forward.
• Example: ”madam”, ”adabcbada”, etc.
int main(){
char str[100]; int i, len=0, flag=0;
scanf("%s",str);
while(str[len] != '\0') len++;
for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++)
if( str[i] != str[len-1-i]) flag = 1;
if(0 == flag) printf("%s is a palindrome\n",str);
else printf("%s is not a palindrome\n",str);
return 0;
}
IIT Patna 8
 Counting vowels
int main(){
char str[100], x[]={'a','e','i','o','u'};
int i, len=0, flag=0, c[]={0,0,0,0,0};
scanf("%s",str);

IIT Patna 9
 Counting vowels
int main(){
char str[100], x[]={'a','e','i','o','u'};
int i, len=0, flag=0, c[]={0,0,0,0,0};
scanf("%s",str);
for(len=0; str[len] != '\0'; len++);
for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++)
for(j=0; j<5; j++)
if(str[i] == x[j]) c[j]++;
for(j=0; j<5; j++)
printf("%c appears %d times\n",x[j],c[j]);
return 0;
}

IIT Patna 9
 Reading strings with blanks
• Many times we need to read the whole line including blank spaces, but scanf
with %s cannot read string with whitespaces
• getchar() is another alternative for such scenarios
char str[100],ch;
int c=0; If the input contains more than 100
.
. characters, then it will lead to a prob-
.
do{ lem.
ch = getchar(); To avoid this, one can keep track of
str[c++] = ch; the value of the count and necessary
} while (ch != '\n'); action can be taken when it crosses
c--; the limit.
str[c] = '\0';
IIT Patna 10
 Example: Remove duplicates
Write a C function that takes a void remDuplicates(char str[]){
string as argument and modi-
fies the string so as to remove
all duplicate characters
Example: mississippi to
misp

IIT Patna 11
 Example: Remove duplicates
Write a C function that takes a void remDuplicates(char str[]){
string as argument and modi- int i, j, idx=0;
fies the string so as to remove for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++){
all duplicate characters for(j=0; j<i; j++){
if(str[i] == str[j])
Example: mississippi to break;
misp }
if(i == j)
str[idx++] = str[i];
}
str[idx] = '\0';
}
IIT Patna 11
 Example: Remove duplicates
Write a C function that takes a void remDuplicates(char str[]){
string as argument and modi-
fies the string so as to remove
all consecutive duplicate char-
acters
Example: mississippi to
misisipi

IIT Patna 12
 Example: Remove duplicates
Write a C function that takes a void remDuplicates(char str[]){
string as argument and modi- int i, j, idx=0;
fies the string so as to remove char prev='\0';
all consecutive duplicate char- for(i=0; str[i] != '\0'; i++){
acters if(prev != str[i])
str[idx++] = str[i];
Example: mississippi to prev = str[i];
misisipi }
str[idx] = '\0';
}

IIT Patna 12
 Example: Copy string using recursion
int main(){
char a[20]="abcde", b[20];
copy(a,b,0); printf("%s\n",b);
return 0;
}

void copy(char src[], char dest[], int idx){

IIT Patna 13
 Example: Copy string using recursion
int main(){
char a[20]="abcde", b[20];
copy(a,b,0); printf("%s\n",b);
return 0;
}

void copy(char src[], char dest[], int idx){

IIT Patna 13
 String library functions
• A collection of functions primarily operated on null terminated strings
• Need to include header file: #include <string.h>
• When an integer / float array is sent to a function as an argument, it is rec-
ommended to pass the number of valid entries in the array as an additional
argument
• When a string is sent to a function, it is not needed to pass the number of valid
characters since '\0' can be used to determine the end of the string

IIT Patna 14
 Important string library functions
• size_t strlen(const char *) —
returns the length of the string
• int strcmp(const char *, const char *) —
compares to two strings in lexicographic manner
• char *strcat(char *dest, const char *src) —
concatenates two strings
• char *strcpy(char *dest, const char *src) —
copy one string to another

IIT Patna 15
 strlen()
• It calculates the length of the string pointed to by the given argument, exclud-
ing the terminating null character
• Returns the number of bytes in the string
• Example: len = strlen(str);
• The null character at the end is not counted
• Counting ends at the first null character

IIT Patna 16
 strcmp(s1, s2)
• It compares two strings
• Returns an integer less than, equal to, or greater than zero if s1 is found to be
less than, to match, or be greater than s2. Comparison is done in lexicographic
manner
• 20 > 9 as integers, ”20” < ”9” as strings
• Example:
• if(strcmp(city,"Patna")==0){…}
• if(!strcmp(city,"Patna")){…}

IIT Patna 17
 strcat(dest, src)
• It appends the src string to the dest string, overwriting the terminating null
character at the end of dest, and then adds a terminating null byte
• Returns a pointer to the resulting string dest
• dest should have enough space to add src - Programmer’s responsibility
• Example:
• char a[]="IIT";
• char b[10]="Patna ";
• strcat(b, a);

IIT Patna 18
 strcat(dest, src)
• It appends the src string to the dest string, overwriting the terminating null
character at the end of dest, and then adds a terminating null byte
• Returns a pointer to the resulting string dest
• dest should have enough space to add src - Programmer’s responsibility
• Example:
• char a[]="IIT"; I I T \0
• char b[10]="Patna ";
• strcat(b, a);

IIT Patna 18
 strcat(dest, src)
• It appends the src string to the dest string, overwriting the terminating null
character at the end of dest, and then adds a terminating null byte
• Returns a pointer to the resulting string dest
• dest should have enough space to add src - Programmer’s responsibility
• Example:
• char a[]="IIT"; I I T \0
• char b[10]="Patna ";
P a t n a \0
• strcat(b, a);

IIT Patna 18
 strcat(dest, src)
• It appends the src string to the dest string, overwriting the terminating null
character at the end of dest, and then adds a terminating null byte
• Returns a pointer to the resulting string dest
• dest should have enough space to add src - Programmer’s responsibility
• Example:
• char a[]="IIT"; I I T \0
• char b[10]="Patna ";
P a t n a \0
• strcat(b, a);
P a t n a I I T \0

IIT Patna 18
 strcpy(dest, src)
• Copies the string pointed to by src, including the terminating null byte, to the
memory pointed to by dest
• Returns a pointer to the destination string dest
• dest should have sufficient size to accommodate src
• Example:
• strcpy(name,"Ayesha")
• strcpy(name1,name2)
• Assignment operator does not work for strings.
char name[100];
name = "Ayesha"; // INVALID

IIT Patna 19
 Example
int main(){
char x[20], y[20]; int val;
scanf("%s%s",x,y);
printf("lenx=%d leny=%d", strlen(x), strlen(y));
val=strcmp(x, y);
if(val == 0) printf("Same\n");
else if(val < 0) printf("%s < %s\n",x,y);
else printf("%s < %s\n",y,x);
return 0;
}

IIT Patna 20