Why C Strings End with \0 - Null Terminated Strings Explained Simply

Ever wondered why C strings are just character arrays that magically know where they end? It's all because of the null terminator - that sneaky \0 at the end.

In this video we break it down super simply:
- What a C string actually is (spoiler: just bytes)
- Why old-school assembly needed separate length labels
- How adding a single zero byte fixed everything
- Quick look at ASCII codes for "Hello"
- Why \0 is the perfect terminator (and how to write it in code)
- How loops know when to stop reading the string
- Real example in assembly with and without null termination

Perfect if you're learning C, diving into low-level programming, or just curious about what's really happening when you write "hello" in C.

Introduction to Null Terminators 00:00:00
What is a C String? 00:00:11
Problems with Explicit Length in Assembly 00:01:06
Idea of a Special Terminator Symbol 00:01:24
Introduction to ASCII 00:02:20
Why ASCII is Outdated - Move to UTF 00:03:59
Example - "Hello" as ASCII Bytes 00:06:32
Mapping "Hello" to ASCII Codes 00:07:00
How Strings are Stored in Memory 00:08:46
The Null Terminator (\\0) Explained 00:09:39
Null is ASCII Code 0 (NUL) 00:10:02
Escape Sequence \\0 in Code 00:10:49
How Loops Use Null Terminator to Stop 00:11:55
Null-Terminated Strings in Assembly 00:12:41
Summary of C Strings 00:13:23
Outro and Call to Action 00:13:32

Thanks for watching!

Find us on other social media here:
- https://www.NeuralLantern.com/social

Please help support us!

- Subscribing + Sharing on Social Media
- Leaving a comment or suggestion
- Subscribing to our Blog
- Watching the main "pinned" video of this channel for offers and extras