I want to create an array of 100 words and each word has 10 max characters but I also want to save in a variable the number of words in this array.
char array[1000];
Is this the most efficient way or can I use malloc() like this:
char *k;
k=(char *)malloc(1000 * sizeof(char));
How can I accomplish my task?
If you have an array of 100 words, perhaps you better use 2 dimesional array, like char array[100][11]. I'm specifying the second dimension as 11 because I'm taking into the consideration the null character (a word with max 10 chars + 1 null), the majority of string handling functions in C expect the strings to be null terminated.
it depends on how you want to use the stored data. What is its lifetime?
your first one is ambiguous:
char array[1000] outside a function is static data; inside a function its on the stack
the second one puts it on the heap.
You should read up on the differences between the characteristics of these 3 different allocation types (they all have pluses and minuses)
Stack, Static, and Heap in C++ is one place
In general, if you're looking for performance the declaration of char array[1000] is going to win because it's allocated on the stack.
When you allocate memory using malloc, it's coming from the heap. Also, it's good practice to always do static allocation if you can get away with it because it drastically reduces your chances of a memory leak, the memory will automatically be freed when you leave the scope.
sizeof(char)?char array[100][10]; int count=0;?char array[100][11];