Question

What are the advantages of using an std::string to hold character

data vs. a dynamic char array?

Answer 1

`Hey,

Note: Brother if you have any queries related the answer please do comment. I would be very happy to resolve all your queries.

1. Using char*

Here, str is basically a pointer to the (const)string literal.
Syntax:

char* str = "This is GeeksForGeeks";

Pros:

1. Only one pointer is required to refer to whole string. That shows this is memory efficient.
2. No need to declare the size of string beforehand.

2. Using std::string

Syntax:

std::string str = "This is GeeksForGeeks";

Here str is the object of std::string class which is an instantiation of the basic_string class template that uses char (i.e., bytes) as its character type.

Pros:
When dealing exclusively in C++ std:string is the best way to go because of better searching, replacement, and manipulation functions.

Cases where you might prefer char* over std:string

1. When dealing with lower level access like talking to the OS, but usually, if you’re passing the string to the
   OS then std::string::c_str has it covered.
2. Compatibility with old C code (although std::string’s c_str() method handles most of this).
3. To conserve memory (std::string will likely have more overhead).

Kindly revert for any queries

Thanks.