include string or string.h

To use memset(), what is the difference between

#include <string> //did not work

and

#include <string.h> //worked

Thanks!

2 Answers

<string> is a C++ standard library include, and <string.h> is C standard library include.

The equivalent of <string.h> in C++ is <cstring>, although both will work.

The difference is: <cstring> wraps everything in the std namespace whereas <string.h> puts everything in the global namespace.

Also, expect some stricter type safety rules from <cstring>.

In a modern C++ environment, you would #include <cstring> to get memset().