memcpy vs strcpy

[slrj]

When "memcpy" should be used over "strcpy" and viceversa?

Thanks

[horace1]

When "memcpy" should be used over "strcpy" and viceversa?

Thanks

strcpy is used to copy null terminated strings, e.g.

char *strcpy(char *destination, const char *source);
 

copy string source to string destination stopping after the terminating null-character is copied; return a pointer to destination,e.g.

    char ch1[10]="hello";
    char ch2[10];
    strcpy(ch2, ch1);
 

"hello" + terminating null is copied from ch1[] to ch2[]

memcpy() is an efficent way to copy memory areas

void *memcpy(void *destination, const void *source, size_t number);
 

copy at most number bytes from source to destination; return a pointer to destination

you can use it as a general tool to copy areas of memory, e.g.

    int a[10] = {1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10};
    int b[10]={0};
    memcpy(b, a, sizeof(int)* 10);
 

10 ints are copied from a[] to b[]

for discussion on efficency of memcpy see
http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=19205567

[slrj]

Horace1,

Thanks for the explanation with code examples.


Thanks.