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strdup() and strndup() functions in C/C++

 Difficulty Level : Medium
 Last Updated : 10 Jun, 2021
The strdup() and strndup() functions are used to duplicate a string. 
strdup() : 
Syntax : char *strdup(const char *s); 
This function returns a pointer to a null-terminated byte string, which is a duplicate of
the string pointed to by s. The memory obtained is done dynamically using malloc and
hence it can be freed using free(). 
It returns a pointer to the duplicated string s.
Below is the C implementation to show the use of strdup() function in C:
 
 C

// C program to demonstrate strdup()

#include<stdio.h>

#include<string.h>

int main()

    char source[] = "GeeksForGeeks";

  

    // A copy of source is created dynamically

    // and pointer to copy is returned.

    char* target = strdup(source);

    printf("%s", target);

    return 0;

Output: 
GeeksForGeeks
strndup() : 
syntax: char *strndup(const char *s, size_t n); 
This function is similar to strdup(), but copies at most n bytes. 
Note: If s is longer than n, then only n bytes are copied, and a NULL (‘\0’) is added at
the end.
Below is the C implementation to show the use of strndup() function in C:
 
 C

// C program to demonstrate strndup()

#include<stdio.h>

#include<string.h>

int main()
 {

    char source[] = "GeeksForGeeks";

    // 5 bytes of source are copied to a new memory

    // allocated dynamically and pointer to copied

    // memory is returned.

    char* target = strndup(source, 5);

    printf("%s", target);

    return 0;

Output:
Geeks
Reference: Linux man(7)
This article is contributed by MAZHAR IMAM KHAN. If you like GeeksforGeeks
and would like to contribute, you can also write an article
using write.geeksforgeeks.org or mail your article to review-team@geeksforgeeks.org.
See your article appearing on the GeeksforGeeks main page and help other Geeks.
Please write comments if you find anything incorrect, or you want to share more
information about the topic discussed above.
 
Want to learn from the best curated videos and practice problems, check out the C
Foundation Course for Basic to Advanced C.

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 How to pass an array by value in C ?
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