alternative for strcpy in C++

Question

Hey all I am new to c++ and I am working on a simple project which takes an inputted string and outputs the string in reverse. I coded the program using what I remembered from programming classes I took years ago however I keep getting a warning for using strcpy and it will not compile on the command prompt and I am not exactly sure the alternative way. Please help. Here is the code:

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

using namespace std;

int main() {
    string reverse;
    char *head, *tail, *cstr, temp;
    int i = 0;

    cout << "Please enter a string: " << endl;
    cin >> reverse;

    cstr = new char[reverse.size() + 1];

    strcpy(cstr, reverse.c_str());
    head = &cstr[0];
    tail = &cstr[reverse.size() - 1];

    cout << "The string inverted is: " << endl;

    while (head <= tail) {
        temp = cstr[i];
        cstr[i] = *tail;
        *tail = temp;
        *tail--;
        *head++;
        i++;

    }
    cout << cstr;
    cout << "\n";

    return 0; 

}

*"programming classes I took years ago"* Like, in the early 90s? Seriously, read some up to date learning material if you are going to write C++. — Baum mit Augen, Sep 11 '16 at 00:19
[`std::copy()`](http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/algorithm/copy) perhaps? — πάντα ῥεῖ, Sep 11 '16 at 00:20
Possible duplicate of [How do you reverse a string in place in C or C++?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/198199/how-do-you-reverse-a-string-in-place-in-c-or-c) — Robert Prévost, Sep 11 '16 at 00:24

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Sep 11 '16 at 00:25

You almost certainly want to use std::string, and do your best to forget that you ever even heard of strcpy. I'd probably write something on this general order:

std::string forward;
std::cin >> forward;

std::string reverse{forward.rbegin(), forward.rend()};

std::cout << "The string reversed is: " << reverse;

If you prefer to reverse the string in place, the standard library has an std::reverse for that:

std::string reverse;
std::cin >> reverse;

std::reverse(reverse.begin(), reverse.end());

std::cout << "The string reversed is: " << reverse;

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 11 '16 at 00:23

0

I define _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS in all my projects to shut these warnings up.

since standard strcpy can cause buffer overflow and memore corruption you can use strcpy_s instead.

answered Sep 11 '16 at 00:23

Zlixine

184
2
15

score -2 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 11 '16 at 00:19

-2

You could use memcpy to copy your string. strcpy probably uses memcpy internally though.

answered Sep 11 '16 at 00:19

mileippert

177
8

He asked for a C++ alternative. I don't think you are answering that. – Sep 11 '16 at 00:21

alternative for strcpy in C++

3 Answers3