Character arrays in C++ - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Character arrays

📖 Scenario: You are working on a simple program that stores and manipulates a name using character arrays in C++. This is like writing a name on a piece of paper where each letter is stored in order.

🎯 Goal: Build a program that creates a character array with a name, counts how many letters it has, and then prints the name and its length.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a character array with the exact name "Alice"

Create an integer variable to store the length of the name

Use a loop to count the number of characters in the array until the end

Print the name and the length

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Character arrays are used in many programs to store and manipulate text, especially in older or low-level C++ code.

💼 Career

Understanding character arrays helps in jobs involving embedded systems, game development, or any C++ programming where direct memory control is important.

1

Create a character array

Create a character array called name and set it to the exact string "Alice".

C++

# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use double quotes to set the string inside the character array.

2

Create a length variable

Create an integer variable called length and set it to 0.

C++

char name[] = "Alice";
# Your code here

Need a hint?

This variable will count how many letters are in the name.

3

Count characters in the array

Use a for loop with an integer i starting at 0 to count characters in name until you find the null character '\0'. Increase length by 1 for each character.

C++

char name[] = "Alice";
int length = 0;
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Remember, character arrays end with a special '\0' character.

4

Print the name and length

Use std::cout to print the text Name: followed by name, then print Length: followed by length. Each on its own line.

C++

char name[] = "Alice";
int length = 0;
for (int i = 0; name[i] != '\0'; i++) {
    length++;
}
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Use std::cout with << to print text and variables.