# strcmp

From cppreference.com
< c‎ | string‎ | byte

Defined in header `<string.h>` |  |
int strcmp( const char *lhs, const char *rhs ); |  |

Compares two null-terminated byte strings lexicographically.

The sign of the result is the sign of the difference between the values of the first pair of characters (both interpreted as unsigned char) that differ in the strings being compared.

The behavior is undefined if `lhs` or `rhs` are not pointers to null-terminated byte strings.

### Parameters

lhs, rhs | - | pointers to the null-terminated byte strings to compare

### Return value

Negative value if `lhs` appears before `rhs` in lexicographical order.

Zero if `lhs` and `rhs` compare equal.

Positive value if `lhs` appears after `rhs` in lexicographical order.

### Notes

This function is not locale-sensitive, unlike strcoll and strxfrm.

### Example

Run this code

    #include <string.h>
    #include <stdio.h>

    void demo(const char* lhs, const char* rhs)
    {
        int rc = strcmp(lhs, rhs);
        if(rc == 0)
            printf("[%s] equals [%s]\n", lhs, rhs);
        else if(rc < 0)
            printf("[%s] precedes [%s]\n", lhs, rhs);
        else if(rc > 0)
            printf("[%s] follows [%s]\n", lhs, rhs);

    }
    int main(void)
    {
        const char* string = "Hello World!";
        demo(string, "Hello!");
        demo(string, "Hello");
        demo(string, "Hello there");
        demo("Hello, everybody!" + 12, "Hello, somebody!" + 11);
    }

Output:

    [Hello World!] precedes [Hello!]
    [Hello World!] follows [Hello]
    [Hello World!] precedes [Hello there]
    [body!] equals [body!]

### References

- C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):

  - 7.24.4.2 The strcmp function (p: 365-366)

- C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):

  - 7.21.4.2 The strcmp function (p: 328-329)

- C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):

  - 4.11.4.2 The strcmp function

### See also

strncmp | compares a certain amount of characters of two strings (function)
wcscmp (C95) | compares two wide strings (function)
memcmp | compares two buffers (function)
strcoll | compares two strings in accordance to the current locale (function)

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