strcmp() — Compare Strings
Format
#include <string.h>
int strcmp(const char *string1, const char *string2);
Language Level
ANSI
Threadsafe
Yes
Description
The strcmp()
function
compares string1 and string2.
The function operates on null-ended strings. The string arguments
to the function should contain a null character (\0) that
marks the end of the string.
Return Value
The strcmp()
function
returns a value indicating the relationship between the two strings,
as follows:
Value | Meaning |
---|---|
Less than 0 | string1 less than string2 |
0 | string1 identical to string2 |
Greater than 0 | string1 greater than string2 |
Example
This example compares the two strings
that are passed to
main()
using strcmp()
.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
int main(int argc, char ** argv)
{
int result;
if ( argc != 3 )
{
printf( "Usage: %s string1 string2\n", argv[0] );
}
else
{
result = strcmp( argv[1], argv[2] );
if ( result == 0 )
printf( "\"%s\" is identical to \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] );
else if ( result < 0 )
printf( "\"%s\" is less than \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] );
else
printf( "\"%s\" is greater than \"%s\"\n", argv[1], argv[2] );
}
}
/****************** If the input is the strings ***********************
********** "is this first?" and "is this before that one?", ***********
****************** then the expected output is: *********************
"is this first?" is greater than "is this before that one?"
**********************************************************************/
Related Information
- strcat() — Concatenate Strings
- strchr() — Search for Character
- strcpy() — Copy Strings
- strcspn() — Find Offset of First Character Match
- strncmp() — Compare Strings
- strpbrk() — Find Characters in String
- strrchr() — Locate Last Occurrence of Character in String
- strspn() — Find Offset of First Non-matching Character
- wcschr() — Search for Wide Character
- wcsspn() — Find Offset of First Non-matching Wide Character
- <string.h>