Which of the following functions would you use to copy a specific number of characters from one string to another?

Which of the following functions would you use to copy a specific number of characters from one string to another?

• A. strcpy()
• B. strcat()
• C. strncpy()
• D. strcopy()

Answer: (C)

The function used to copy a specific number of characters from one string to another is `strncpy()`. This function is particularly useful when you want to ensure that you only copy up to a certain number of characters, which helps prevent buffer overflows and enables you to handle string copying more safely. The `strncpy()` function takes three parameters: the destination string, the source string, and the maximum number of characters to copy. If the source string is shorter than the specified number of characters, `strncpy()` will pad the destination string with null bytes (if the total length to copy is greater than the length of the source string). This feature makes `strncpy()` suitable for applications where you explicitly want to limit the number of characters being copied, ensuring proper memory management. On the other hand, `strcpy()` is used to copy a complete string from the source to the destination without any character limit, which can lead to buffer overflows if the destination array is not large enough. `strcat()` is intended for concatenating strings, not for copying a specified number of characters from one string to another. The term `strcopy()` is not a standard C function and does not exist in the C library. Therefore, for the

The function used to copy a specific number of characters from one string to another is strncpy(). This function is particularly useful when you want to ensure that you only copy up to a certain number of characters, which helps prevent buffer overflows and enables you to handle string copying more safely.

The strncpy() function takes three parameters: the destination string, the source string, and the maximum number of characters to copy. If the source string is shorter than the specified number of characters, strncpy() will pad the destination string with null bytes (if the total length to copy is greater than the length of the source string). This feature makes strncpy() suitable for applications where you explicitly want to limit the number of characters being copied, ensuring proper memory management.

On the other hand, strcpy() is used to copy a complete string from the source to the destination without any character limit, which can lead to buffer overflows if the destination array is not large enough. strcat() is intended for concatenating strings, not for copying a specified number of characters from one string to another. The term strcopy() is not a standard C function and does not exist in the C library.

Therefore, for the