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1 | 1 | ## How Strings Work in C++ (and how to use them) |
2 | 2 |
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3 | | -**Video Link:** [C++ Strings ](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0) |
| 3 | +**Video Link:** [C++ Strings ](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU) |
4 | 4 |
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5 | | -**Playlist Link:** [C++ Tutorial Playlist by The Cherno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OVQ8nh3KP0&list=PLlrATfBNZ98dudnM48yfGUldqGD0S4FFb&index=10) |
| 5 | +**Playlist Link:** [C++ Tutorial Playlist by The Cherno](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijIxcB9qjaU&list=PLlrATfBNZ98dudnM48yfGUldqGD0S4FFb&index=10) |
6 | 6 |
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7 | | -### 📌 Prerequisites (Mentioned at [0:06](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=6)) |
| 7 | +### 📌 Prerequisites (Mentioned at [0:06](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=6)) |
8 | 8 |
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9 | 9 | * It's helpful to have watched the previous videos on: |
10 | 10 | * Pointers ([Episode 8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTxHNJHI7Ys&list=PLlrATfBNZ98dudnM48yfGUldqGD0S4FFb&index=8)) |
11 | 11 | * Arrays ([Episode 9](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENDaJi08jCU&list=PLlrATfBNZ98dudnM48yfGUldqGD0S4FFb&index=9)) |
12 | 12 | * Why? Because strings are closely related to both concepts. |
13 | 13 |
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14 | | -### 🤔 What is a String? (General Concept) ([0:21](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=21)) |
| 14 | +### 🤔 What is a String? (General Concept) ([0:21](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=21)) |
15 | 15 |
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16 | 16 | * A string is essentially a sequence or group of characters. |
17 | 17 | * Characters can be: |
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21 | 21 | * Basically, a string represents **text**. |
22 | 22 | * Representing text is fundamental in programming for user interfaces, file handling, data processing, etc. |
23 | 23 |
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24 | | -### 💡 How Strings Work: The Basics ([1:08](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=68)) |
| 24 | +### 💡 How Strings Work: The Basics ([1:08](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=68)) |
25 | 25 |
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26 | 26 | * To understand strings, you first need to understand how *characters* work. |
27 | | -* **Characters (`char`) in C++:** ([1:53](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=113)) |
| 27 | +* **Characters (`char`) in C++:** ([1:53](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=113)) |
28 | 28 | * The `char` data type is used. |
29 | 29 | * Typically, `char` is **1 byte** (8 bits) of memory. |
30 | 30 | * This 1-byte size is often used for low-level memory manipulation (like pointer arithmetic in bytes or creating memory buffers). |
31 | | -* **Character Encoding:** ([2:00](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=120)) |
| 31 | +* **Character Encoding:** ([2:00](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=120)) |
32 | 32 | * How characters (letters, symbols) are mapped to numbers (and thus, bytes). |
33 | 33 | * **ASCII** is the most basic standard, using 1 byte (technically 7 bits, extended ASCII uses 8). It can represent 256 different characters (0-255). |
34 | 34 | * This is enough for English letters (uppercase/lowercase), numbers, and common symbols. |
35 | | - * **Limitation:** ASCII cannot represent characters from many other languages (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Korean) because there are far more than 256 unique characters globally. ([3:22](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=202)) |
| 35 | + * **Limitation:** ASCII cannot represent characters from many other languages (e.g., Japanese, Chinese, Russian, Korean) because there are far more than 256 unique characters globally. ([3:22](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=202)) |
36 | 36 | * Other encodings exist (UTF-8, UTF-16, UTF-32 - part of Unicode) to handle this, often using more than 1 byte per character. *This video focuses on the basic ASCII/`char` concept.* |
37 | 37 |
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38 | | -### ⛓️ C-Style Strings: Character Pointers & Arrays ([2:59](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=179)) |
| 38 | +### ⛓️ C-Style Strings: Character Pointers & Arrays ([2:59](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=179)) |
39 | 39 |
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40 | 40 | * Traditionally (in C, and still usable in C++), strings are represented as arrays of characters, often manipulated via pointers. |
41 | 41 | * **String Literals:** When you write text in double quotes like `"Cherno"`, this is a string literal. |
42 | 42 | * Example: `const char* name = "Cherno";` |
43 | 43 | * `name` is a pointer (`char*`) pointing to the first character ('C') of a sequence of characters stored somewhere in the program's memory. |
44 | 44 | * This memory location for string literals is often **read-only**. |
45 | | -* **Why `const`?** ([5:54](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=354)) |
| 45 | +* **Why `const`?** ([5:54](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=354)) |
46 | 46 | * Because string literals are often in read-only memory, trying to modify them can cause a crash. |
47 | 47 | * Declaring the pointer as `const char*` makes the *data pointed to* constant (read-only from the perspective of this pointer). This helps prevent accidental modification attempts. |
48 | 48 | * Example of what **NOT** to do: |
49 | 49 | ```c++ |
50 | 50 | char* name = "Cherno"; // Problematic: Assigning literal to non-const pointer |
51 | 51 | name[2] = 'a'; // CRASH! Trying to write to read-only memory. |
52 | 52 | ``` |
53 | | -* **Null Termination:** ([8:07](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=487)) |
| 53 | +* **Null Termination:** ([8:07](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=487)) |
54 | 54 | * How does the program know where a C-style string ends if it only has a pointer to the start? |
55 | 55 | * Answer: A special **null terminator character** (`\0`) is automatically added at the end of string literals. |
56 | 56 | * This character has an ASCII value of **0**. |
57 | 57 | * Functions working with C-style strings (like printing) read characters sequentially from the starting address until they encounter this null byte (value 0). |
58 | | - * Memory View: `"Cherno"` in memory looks like `C h e r n o \0` (represented by their byte values, with the last one being `00`). ([7:21](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=441)) |
59 | | -* **Manual Char Arrays:** ([8:48](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=528)) |
| 58 | + * Memory View: `"Cherno"` in memory looks like `C h e r n o \0` (represented by their byte values, with the last one being `00`). ([7:21](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=441)) |
| 59 | +* **Manual Char Arrays:** ([8:48](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=528)) |
60 | 60 | * You can create strings using explicit char arrays. |
61 | 61 | * Example (Incorrect - Missing Null Terminator): |
62 | 62 | ```c++ |
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74 | 74 | ``` |
75 | 75 | * **Key takeaway:** If manually creating char arrays for strings, always allocate one extra byte for the null terminator and ensure it's set to 0 or `\0`. |
76 | 76 |
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77 | | -### ✨ The C++ `std::string` Way ([11:03](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=663)) |
| 77 | +### ✨ The C++ `std::string` Way ([11:03](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=663)) |
78 | 78 |
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79 | 79 | * C++ provides a much more convenient and safer way to handle strings via the Standard Library. |
80 | 80 | * **Include Header:** |
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100 | 100 | * **Easier:** Simpler syntax, less manual memory management. |
101 | 101 | * **Safer:** Reduces risks of buffer overflows and memory errors common with C-style strings. |
102 | 102 | * **Functionality:** Provides many useful member functions (e.g., finding length, appending, searching). |
103 | | -* **Concatenation (Appending Strings):** ([14:08](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=848)) |
| 103 | +* **Concatenation (Appending Strings):** ([14:08](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=848)) |
104 | 104 | * **Problem:** `std::string name = "Cherno" + " hello!";` // ERROR! |
105 | 105 | * Reason: Both `"Cherno"` and `" hello!"` are `const char*` (C-style string literals/pointers). C++ doesn't define how to add two `const char*` pointers together in this context. |
106 | 106 | * **Solution 1 (Using `+=`):** |
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116 | 116 | std::cout << name << std::endl; // Outputs "Cherno hello!" |
117 | 117 | ``` |
118 | 118 | * This works because `std::string("Cherno")` creates a `std::string` object. The `+` operator *is* overloaded for `std::string` + `const char*`. |
119 | | -* **Finding Substrings:** ([15:14](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=914)) |
| 119 | +* **Finding Substrings:** ([15:14](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=914)) |
120 | 120 | * Use the `.find()` member function. |
121 | 121 | * Example: |
122 | 122 | ```c++ |
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128 | 128 | std::cout << "Found 'no'!" << std::endl; |
129 | 129 | } |
130 | 130 | ``` |
131 | | -* **Getting Size/Length:** ([13:45](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=825)) |
| 131 | +* **Getting Size/Length:** ([13:45](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=825)) |
132 | 132 | * Use the `.size()` member function. |
133 | 133 | * Example: |
134 | 134 | ```c++ |
|
137 | 137 | ``` |
138 | 138 | * This is much easier than using C-style functions like `strlen()`. |
139 | 139 |
|
140 | | -### 👉 Passing Strings to Functions ([16:13](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=973)) |
| 140 | +### 👉 Passing Strings to Functions ([16:13](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=973)) |
141 | 141 |
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142 | 142 | * How should you pass `std::string` objects to functions? |
143 | 143 | * **Option 1: Pass by Value (Generally BAD for strings)** |
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162 | 162 | * **Benefit:** Highly efficient (no copying) and safe (prevents accidental modification). |
163 | 163 | * **Rule of Thumb:** If a function only needs to *read* a string, pass it by `const std::string&`. |
164 | 164 |
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165 | | -### 🙏 Conclusion ([17:54](https://youtu.be/6OVQ8nh3KP0?t=1074)) |
| 165 | +### 🙏 Conclusion ([17:54](https://youtu.be/ijIxcB9qjaU?t=1074)) |
166 | 166 |
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167 | 167 | * Strings are fundamental for text representation. |
168 | 168 | * C-style strings (`char*`, char arrays) require manual null termination and careful memory management. |
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