String Length

How long is a string? Ask .length() or .size() - they are the same method under two names.

length and size

cpp
string txt = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ";
cout << txt.length() << endl;   // 26
cout << txt.size() << endl;     // 26

Both return the number of characters. Use whichever reads better to you; size() matches the containers you will meet later.

Whitespace counts

cpp
string spaced = "a b";    // 3 characters
string blank = " ";       // 1 character

Spaces, tabs, and punctuation are characters too. Every character in the string counts toward the total.

Empty strings

cpp
string empty;
cout << empty.length() << endl;   // 0

A string with no characters has length

1. Checking for length() == 0 is a handy way to know the user typed nothing.

TL;DR

• .length() and .size() return the character count.
• Whitespace and punctuation count as characters.
• An empty string has length 0.