In this post, we will see how to know if two strings are equal in ANSI C since we cannot simply use the operator ==to compare strings, they are a complex thing.

Table of contents:

• strcmp function in C.
• Compare strings in C using strcmp.
• Know if two strings are equal using strcmp. Let's see how to use strcmp to compare strings in C and find out if both are the same since strings are actually a set of characters within ANSI C.

Strcmp function in C:

As in PHP, in C there is the function strcmpthat means "string compare". This function can return 0, a number greater than 0, or a number less than 0.

I know, it sounds confusing but let's see.

The function will strcmpreturn if the strings are equal. In case the first is "less" than the second, it will return a negative number, and finally if the first is greater than the second, it will return a positive number.

Usually, these numbers are 0, -1 and 1, but we can make the comparisons based on 0 (that is if it is less than zero, equal to zero or greater than zero). Read more