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The C function printf() returns the no of characters printed then what makes strlen() different?

deceze
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Akash Kamble
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    Eh, because strlen() returns the length of the string without printing it? BTW: Please learn [how to ask a good question](http://stackoverflow.com/help/how-to-ask) – B001ᛦ Aug 26 '16 at 13:27
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    *"Cutting the chicken open with a knife also gets us the egg, why don't we do that instead of having it lay the egg?"* – Err, because one has side effects, and the other doesn't…? – deceze Aug 26 '16 at 13:47
  • Well, thank you. Fine explanation for a newbie. But I never thought that the community is so negative about beginners. I cannot ask more questions from this account now :-( – Akash Kamble Aug 27 '16 at 10:27

2 Answers2

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As bub said, part of the difference is that strlen doesn't print the string, just returns its length. Also, though, printf() interprets its argument as a format string - what it ends up printing can be a very different length from the string it was given if it inserts values into placeholders.

Geoff Mackenzie
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  • Although the question is terribly imprecise, it is only fair to point out that `strlen(s)` and `printf("%s", s)` will return the same value as long as there is no problem with `stdin`. The assumption that OP intended to use `printf` incorrectly is not based on anything written in the question. – rici Aug 26 '16 at 15:15
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strlen() function calculates the length of string. Thats it for strlen but printf() sends formatted output.

Gkan
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