Fixed-length char strings can contain any printing or non-printing character, and the null character ('\0'). Char strings are padded with blanks to the declared length.

Leading and embedded blanks are significant when comparing char strings. For example, the following char strings are considered different:

Length is not significant when comparing char strings; the shorter string is (logically) padded to the length of the longer. For example, the following char strings are considered equal: