strlen() function in c

The strlen() function in C calculates the length of a given string. The strlen() function is defined in string.h header file. It doesn't count the null character '\0'.

Syntax of C strlen()

The syntax of strlen() function in C is as follows:

size_t strlen(const char* str);

Parameters

The strlen() function only takes a single parameter.

• str: It represents the string variable whose length we have to find.

Return Value

• This function returns the integral length of the string passed.

Example of C strlen()

The below programs illustrate the strlen() function in C:

// c program to demonstrate
// example of strlen() function.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main()
{
    // defining string
    char str[] = "GeeksforGeeks";

    // getting length of str using strlen()
    int length = strlen(str);
    printf("Length of string is : %d", length);

    return 0;
}

Length of string is : 13

Important Points about strlen()

The following points should be kept in mind while using strlen():

• strlen() does not count the NULL character '\0'.
• The time complexity of strlen() is O(n), where n is the number of characters in the string.
• Its return type is size_t ( which is generally unsigned int ).