Difference between strlen() and sizeof()

sizeof()

The sizeof() function calculates the length of any value it receives as an argument. The arguments may be integer, float, character or double data type. When it receives a character array or string as an argument, it computes the size occupied by it in the memory. Since characters occupy 1 byte of memory, the number of bytes occupied by the string characters is equivalent to the length of a string. The sizeof() function returns a value of unsigned integer type usually denoted by size_t. Note that the sizeof() function counts the null character \0 as part of the string’s length. 

Syntax:

sizeof(argument)

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The sizeof() function accepts data types, variables and expressions as arguments.

Example:

#include<stdio.h>

int main()
{
    char str[] = "Length of a string";
    
    int length = sizeof(str);

    printf("length of string str is %d", length);
    
    return 0;
}

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Output:

Length of string str is 19

Differences between strlen() and sizeof()

The strlen() and sizeof() functions are used for the same purpose but return different values. This is mainly because strlen() does not count the null character \0, but sizeof() does. The strlen() and sizeof() functions differ in the following ways.

Also check out “strcat() function in C and  Short int in C Programming

#include<stdio.h>
#include<string.h>

int main()
{
    char str[] = "HelloWorld";
    int length_sizeof, length_strlen;

    length_sizeof = sizeof(str);
    length_strlen = strlen(str);

    printf("sizeof() of string \"HelloWorld\" returns %d and strlen() returns %d.", length_sizeof, length_strlen);
    
    // sizeof() also considers \0 as a part of the string
    // Hence, for a string s: sizeof(s) = strlen(s) + 1 

    return 0;
}

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Output:

sizeof() of string "HelloWorld" returns 11 and strlen() returns 10.

FAQs 

What is the use of the null character \0?

The Null character in the C is used to terminate character strings. It represents the end of the string or end of an array by default. The end of the character string is ‘\0’ or simply NULL. It occupies 1 byte of memory space.

What is size_t in C?

It represents the size of objects in bytes and is therefore used as the return type by the sizeof() function. It can contain the size of the biggest object in the host system. The maximum permissible size depends on the compiler. For a 32 bit compiler, it represents unsigned int; for 64 bit it represents unsigned long long. The size_t data type is never negative.

Conclusion

This article extensively discusses the strlen() and sizeof() functions in C. We hope that this blog has helped you differentiate between the strlen() and sizeof() functions. If you would like to learn more, check out our articles on  Basics of C and Functions in C. Learn more about Arrays, Pointers, Memory management, Structures and Unions in C.

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