C compare char

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C Howtos
Compare Char in C

Created: December-15, 2020 | Updated: October-17, 2021

Table of Contents Show

Compare Char in C Using the Comparison Operators
Compare Char in C Using the strcmp() Function in C
Related Article - C Char
Can we use == to compare char in C?
Can you use == for char?
How do I compare two char values?
Can I compare int with char in C?

Compare Char in C Using the Comparison Operators
Compare Char in C Using the strcmp() Function in C

This tutorial introduces how to compare char in C. A char variable is an 8-bit integral value, from 0 to 255. Here, 0 stands for the C-null character, and 255 stands for an empty symbol.

Compare Char in C Using the Comparison Operators

A char variable has its own ASCII value. So the characters are compared according to the ASCII values. The complete program is as below:

#include<stdio.h> int main(void) { char firstCharValue='m'; char secondCharValue='n'; if(firstCharValue < secondCharValue) printf("%c is smaller than %c.", firstCharValue, secondCharValue); if(firstCharValue > secondCharValue) printf("%c is smaller than %c.", firstCharValue, secondCharValue); if(firstCharValue == secondCharValue) printf("%c is equal to %c.", firstCharValue, secondCharValue); return 0; }

Output:

m is smaller than n.

Compare Char in C Using the strcmp() Function in C

The strcmp() function is defined in the string header file and used to compare two strings character by character.

If both strings’ first characters are equal, the next character of the two strings will be compared. It continues till the corresponding characters of both strings are either different or a null character '\0' is reached.

The syntax for strcmp() function is as below.

int strcmp (const char* firstStringValue, const char* secondStringValue);

If two strings are equal or identical, it returns 0.
If the ASCII value of the first unmatched character is greater than the second, It returns a positive integer value
If the ASCII value of the first unmatched character is less than the second,it returns a negative integer value.

The complete program to compare two strings is as below:

#include<stdio.h> #include<stdlib.h> #include<string.h> int main(void) { char firstString= "b", secondString= "b",thirdString= "B"; int result; result= strcmp(&firstString, &secondString); printf("strcmp(firstString, secondString) = %d\n", result); result = strcmp(&firstString, &thirdString); printf("strcmp(firstString,thirdString) = %d\n", result); return 0; }

The output is:

strcmp(firstString, secondString) = 0 strcmp(firstString, thirdString) = 1

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Can we use == to compare char in C?

Compare Char in C Using the strcmp() Function in C If both strings' first characters are equal, the next character of the two strings will be compared. It continues till the corresponding characters of both strings are either different or a null character '\0' is reached.

Can you use == for char?

Yes, char is just like any other primitive type, you can just compare them by == .

How do I compare two char values?

The compare(char x, char y) method of Character class is used to compare two char values numerically. The final value returned is similar to what would be returned by: Character..

a value 0 if x==y..

a value less than 0 if x<y..

a value greater than 0 if x>y..

Can I compare int with char in C?

In this case, char could be either a signed or unsigned integer type -- its signedness is implementation-defined. Fortunately, though, an int can represent all possible values of a char , whether or not char is signed, assuming you're on a system where char s are 8 bits and int s are at least 16 bits.

C compare char

Compare Char in C Using the Comparison Operators