Convert a string to a char array in C++

This post will discuss how to convert a string to a char array in C++.

1. Using `strcpy` function

The idea is to use the c_str() function to convert the std::string to a C-string. Then we can simply call the strcpy() function to copy the C-string into a char array.

#include <iostream>

#include <string>

#include <cstring>

int main()

{

std::string s = "Hello World!";

char cstr[s.size() + 1];

strcpy(cstr, s.c_str()); // or, pass `&s[0]`

std::cout << cstr << std::endl;

return 0;

}

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Output:

Hello World!

2. Using `std::string::copy` function

We know that the strcpy() is a C function. We can avoid using that in C++ by using std::string::copy instead.

#include <iostream>

#include <string>

int main()

{

std::string s = "Hello World!";

char cstr[s.size() + 1];

s.copy(cstr, s.size() + 1);

cstr[s.size()] = '\0';

std::cout << cstr << std::endl;

return 0;

}

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Output:

Hello World!

3. Using `std::copy` function

Finally, the <algorithm> header also provides the standard copy algorithm std::copy, which can be used in the following manner:

#include <iostream>

#include <string>

#include <algorithm>

int main()

{

std::string s = "Hello World!";

char cstr[s.size() + 1];

std::copy(s.begin(), s.end(), cstr);

cstr[s.size()] = '\0';

std::cout << cstr << std::endl;

return 0;

}

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Output:

Hello World!

That’s all about converting a string to a char array in C++.

Convert a string to a char array in C++

1. Using strcpy function

2. Using std::string::copy function

3. Using std::copy function

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1. Using `strcpy` function

2. Using `std::string::copy` function

3. Using `std::copy` function