Learning Objectives: String Basics
Identify the three properties of strings
Understand the meaning of mutability
Determine if a string is present in another string and at
what index
Print a string from the start index to end index
Utilize escape characters to add special characters to a
string
String Properties
String Length
We have already seen strings in the “Fundamentals”section. We are going
to dig a little deeper with this data type. All strings have the following
characteristics:
1. Characters - Strings are made up of characters between quotation
marks (previously covered in the “Fundamentals” section).
2. Length - Each string has a length (total number of characters).
3. Index - Each character in a string has a position, called an index.
To calculate the length of a string, use the length() function. This function
will return an integer that is the sum of all of the characters between the
quotation marks.
string my_string = "Hello";
int len_string = my_string.length();
cout << len_string << endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Change my_string to "Hello world!"?
Change my_string to ""?
Change my_string to "-1"?
Change my_string to "Привет"
important
IMPORTANT
Although each character that you see on a typical keyword usually has
a length of 1, there are other foreign characters that do not follow this
convention. For example, Привет, which stands for Hello in Russian,
actually has a length of 12 instead of 6.
String Index
Previously in the vectors module, we learned that vectors and arrays have
elements that reside in certain positions or indices. A string too has indices
that correspond to the position where each of its character resides. Like
vector and array indices, string indices also start at 0.
.guides/img/StringIndex
Strings & Quotation Marks
Quotation marks are required to declare the value of a string. However,
quotation marks are not a part of the string itself. That is why quotation
marks are not counted with the length() function and why they do not
have an index.
To reference a character, use the string name followed by the at()
function. Within parentheses (), provide the index number of the
character you want the system to return. Alternatively, you can also use
brackets [] to enclose the index number.
.guides/img/StringAtIndex
string my_string = "Hello!";
char character = my_string.at(1);
cout << character << endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Change char character to my_string.at(my_string.length())?
Change char character to my_string.at(my_string.length()-1)?
Change char character to my_string.at(5)?
Change char character to my_string.at(-1)?
Change char character to my_string[5]?
Change char character to my_string[my_string.length()]?
Note that you cannot use my_string[my_string.length()]. An index
number is needed.
Mutability
Mutability
You now know how to reference each character of a string. What do you
think the code below will do?
string my_string = "House";
my_string.at(0) = "M";
cout << my_string << endl;
If you thought the code above would print Mouse, that would be a logical
guess. However, you see an error. Unlike vectors and arrays where the
characters can be manipulated, string literals are immutable. That means
you cannot change the string literal itself. You can, however, manipulate a
particular character within the string.
string my_string = "House";
my_string.at(0) = 'M';
cout << my_string << endl;
Can you spot the difference between the two code snippets mentioned
above? The difference lies within the double quotes "" and single quotes ''.
You cannot change the string literal, but you can change a character at a
particular index. Thus, my_string.at(0) = 'M' changes the string to Mouse
but my_string.at(0) = "M" does not.
String Re-Assignment
In addition to character manipulation, you can also change the entire
string itself by overwriting it with a new value(s).
string my_string = "House";
my_string = "Mouse";
cout << my_string << endl;
Strings in C++, like other data types, can be re-assigned. The previous
examples on this page are about mutability. That is, changing just a part of
a whole. The current example is about the assignment operator. Re-
assignment replaces the entire value of a variable with a new value. In
conclusion, you can either change one character at a time within a string,
or change the entire string literal by reassigning it.
.guides/img/MutabilityAssignment
Find
The find() Function
The find() function tells you if a character or a string is present in another
string, and if so, at what index it is at. find() returns an integer index if the
character or string is present and 18446744073709551615 if not.
What does 18446744073709551615 mean?
18446744073709551615 is the largest integer value possible in C++. When
find() is called and 18446744073709551615 is returned, it means the system
has searched through all values and cannot locate the specified value.
18446744073709551615 is an unsigned value, but it is equivalent to -1 as a
signed value.
string my_string = "The brown dog jumps over the lazy fox.";
cout << my_string.find("dog") << endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Change the cout statement to be cout << my_string.find("cat");?
Change the cout statement to be cout << my_string.find("Dog");?
Change the cout statement to be cout << my_string.find(" ");?
Change the cout statement to be cout <<
my_string.find(my_string);?
If you want to start searching for a string or character starting at a
particular index, you can specify the start index number after the specified
string.
string my_string = "The brown dog jumps over the lazy fox.";
cout << my_string.find("he", 4) << endl; //start at index 4
challenge
What happens if you:
Change my_string.find("he", 4) to my_string.find("he", 27)?
Change my_string.find("he", 4) from the original code to
my_string.find("he")?
Substr
The substr() Function
The subst() function returns a portion of the string. Within parentheses (),
provide the index at which you want the string to start followed by a
comma followed by the number of characters you want the string to
include. Note that if you don’t specify the number of characters, the system
will start copying from the start index through to the end of the string. If
you don’t specify the start index, then the system will copy the entire string.
The subst() function does not modify the original string. Instead, it returns
a partial or entire copy of the original string.
.guides/img/StringSubstr
string my_string = "The brown dog jumps over the lazy fox.";
string my_slice = my_string.substr(4, 9);
cout << my_slice << endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Change my_slice to be my_string.substr(1, 2)?
Change my_slice to be my_string.substr()?
Change my_slice to be my_string.substr(1, 1)?
Change my_slice to be my_string.substr(2)?
Escape Characters
Escape Characters
An escape character is a character that has a different interpretation than
what you see in a string. Escape characters always start with a backslash
(\). The most common escape character is the newline character (\n) which
causes C++ to print on the next line.
string my_string = "Hello\nworld";
cout << my_string << endl;
Escape
Description Example
Character
\\ Prints a backslash cout << "\\" << endl;
Prints a single
\' cout << "\'" << endl;
quote
Prints a double
\" cout << "\"" << endl;
quote
Prints a tab cout << "Hello\tworld" <<
\t
(spacing) endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Use \n\n instead of \n in the original code?
Replace \n\n in your current code with \t?
Replace \t in your current code with \"?
Quotes Inside Quotes
Imagine that you have this small bit of dialog, And then she said, "Hi
there." and want to store it as a string. Typing "And then she said, "Hi
there."" would cause an error.
.guides/img/StringQuotes
When you use a " to start a string, C++ looks for the next " to end it. To
avoid syntax errors, you can use a double quote to start your string, single
quotes for the inner quote, and end the string with a double quote.
string my_string = "And then she said, 'Hi there.'";
cout << my_string << endl;
challenge
What happens if you:
Replace single quotes (') with double quotes (") and double
quotes(") with single quotes (') in the original code?
Change all quotes to double quotes (")?
Use the escape character \" for the inner quotation marks that
surround Hi there. (e.g. "And then she said, \"Hi there.\"")?
