C Exercises: Count the number of characters, words and lines in a string.

Last update on September 18 2025 12:35:17 (UTC/GMT +8 hours)

Count characters, words, and lines in a given string

Write a C program that accepts a string and counts the number of characters, words and lines.

Sample Solution:

C Code:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
long ctr_char, ctr_word, ctr_line; // Variables to count characters, words, and lines
int c; // Variable to hold input characters
int flag; // Flag to track word boundaries

ctr_char = 0; // Initialize the count of characters
flag = ctr_line = ctr_word = 0; // Initialize flag and counts for words and lines

printf("Input a string and get number of characters, words and lines:\n");

  // Loop to read characters until end-of-file (EOF) is encountered
while ((c = getchar()) != EOF) {
    ++ctr_char; // Increment the count of characters

if (c == ' ' || c == '\t') {
flag = 0; // Reset the flag when a space or tab is encountered
    } else if (c == '\n') {
      ++ctr_line; // Increment the count of lines
flag = 0; // Reset the flag on a newline
    } else {
if (flag == 0) {
        ++ctr_word; // Increment the count of words when a new word begins
      }
flag = 1; // Set the flag to indicate a word is in progress
    }
  }

  // Print the counts of characters, words, and lines
printf("\nNumber of Characters = %ld", ctr_char);
printf("\nNumber of words = %d", ctr_word);
printf("\nNumber of lines = %d", ctr_line);
}

Sample Output:

Input a string and get number of characters, words and lines:
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog
^Z

Number of Characters = 44
Number of words = 9
Number of lines = 1

Flowchart:

For more Practice: Solve these Related Problems:

• Write a C program to count the number of characters, words, and lines in a text input using pointer arithmetic.
• Write a C program to compute character, word, and line counts from a string using state transitions.
• Write a C program to analyze a string and count characters, words, and lines with robust edge-case handling.
• Write a C program to read multi-line input and output the total counts of characters, words, and lines using loops.

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