C strpbrk() Function

Posted in C Tutorial

Updated on Jan 14, 2024

By Mari Selvan

👁️ 134 - Views

⏳ 4 mins

💬 1 Comment

Photo Credit to CodeToFun

🙋 Introduction

In C programming, dealing with strings is a fundamental aspect, and various functions are available for string manipulation.

The strpbrk() function is one such function that is used to find the first occurrence of any character in a set of specified characters within a given string.

In this tutorial, we'll explore the usage and functionality of the strpbrk() function in C.

💡 Syntax

The strpbrk() function has the following signature:

Syntax

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char *strpbrk(const char *str1, const char *str2);

str1: The null-terminated string to be searched.
str2: The null-terminated string containing characters to search for.

📄 Example

Let's dive into an example to illustrate how the strpbrk() function works.

strpbrk.c

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

int main() {
  const char str1[] = "Hello, C Programming!";
  const char str2[] = "aeiou";

  // Find the first occurrence of any vowel in str1
  char * result = strpbrk(str1, str2);

  if (result != NULL) {
    printf("First vowel found: %c\n", * result);
  } else {
    printf("No vowel found.\n");
  }

  return 0;
}

💻 Output

Output

First vowel found: e

🧠 How the Program Works

In this example, the strpbrk() function is used to find the first occurrence of any vowel (a, e, i, o, u) in the string "Hello, C Programming!".

↩️ Return Value

The strpbrk() function returns a pointer to the first occurrence of any character from str2 in str1. If no such character is found, it returns a null pointer (NULL).

📚 Common Use Cases

The strpbrk() function is particularly useful when you need to search for any character from a specified set within a string. It is commonly employed in scenarios where you want to identify the presence of certain characters in a larger text.

📝 Notes

The search is case-sensitive. If a case-insensitive search is required, consider converting the strings to lowercase (or uppercase) using functions like tolower() or toupper() before calling strpbrk().
The function is part of the C standard library and is declared in the <string.h> header.

🎢 Optimization

The strpbrk() function is optimized for efficiency, and no specific optimizations are typically needed.

🎉 Conclusion

The strpbrk() function in C is a valuable tool for searching for the first occurrence of any character from a specified set within a string. It provides flexibility in identifying specific characters and is commonly used in text processing tasks.

Feel free to experiment with different strings and character sets to deepen your understanding of the strpbrk() function. Happy coding!