Difference Between string and char[] Types in C++

In C++, we can store the sequence of characters i.e. string in two ways: either as a std::string object or char array. In this article, we will discuss some major differences between string and char[] in  C++

Character Array Type Strings

A character array is simply an array in C++ that contains characters that are terminated by a null character. Here, characters present in the character array can be accessed by the index of the array. These types of strings are inherited from the C language

Syntax

char str[14] = "GeeksforGeeks"

Example

C++

// C++ Program to show the use of character array type strings
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    // Character array
    char str[13] = "GeeskforGeeks";

    // Print each character in the array
    for (int i = 0; i < 11; i++) {
        cout << str[i];
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

GFG is best

std::string in C++

The std::string is a class that is used to represent strings in C++. They are the modern counterpart of old character array type strings. They contain many different functions to help in string manipulation.

Syntax

string str("GFG is best");

Example

C++

// C++ Program to show the use of std::string
#include <iostream>
using namespace std;

int main()
{
    // Sample string
    string str("GFG is best");

    // Print the string
    cout << str;

    return 0;
}

Output

GFG is best

Difference between String and Char[] types in C++

The below table lists the major differences between the char[] type and std::string type strings in C++:

std::string in C++	Character Array in C++
It does not contains ‘\0’ at the end.	It contains ‘\0’ at the end.
There is no need to worry about memory management	If allocated on stack, the memory remains fixed. If allocated on heap, user have to manually manage the memory.
Represented as the objects of std::string objects and are also implement internally using character arrays.	Directly implemented and represented as character arrays.
Have some associated function to help in string manipulation.	No associated functions. String manipulation is done by using the explicitly defined functions in <string.h> header.
It is defined in the <string> header in C++	It is the part of the language.
Only works in C++.	Works in both C and C++.