Why use c strings in c++?

c++ c stl string c-strings
Jason Baker picture Jason Baker · Sep 20, 2008 · Viewed 7.3k times · Source

Is there any good reason to use C-strings in C++ nowadays? My textbook uses them in examples at some points, and I really feel like it would be easier just to use a std::string.

Answer

dvorak picture dvorak · Sep 20, 2008

The only reasons I've had to use them is when interfacing with 3rd party libraries that use C style strings. There might also be esoteric situations where you would use C style strings for performance reasons, but more often than not, using methods on C++ strings is probably faster due to inlining and specialization, etc.

You can use the c_str() method in many cases when working with those sort of APIs, but you should be aware that the char * returned is const, and you should not modify the string via that pointer. In those sort of situations, you can still use a vector<char> instead, and at least get the benefit of easier memory management.

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