# ABSL Strings
This directory contains packages related to std::string operations and std::string
alternatives (such as character-agnostic byte manipulation packages).
## Library Listing
Two library targets are available within this directory:
* **strings** (`//absl/strings:strings`) provides classes and
utility functions for manipulating and comparing strings, converting other
types (such as integers) into strings, or evaluating strings for other usages
(such as tokenization).
* **cord** (`//absl/strings:cord`) provides classes and utility
functions for manipulating `Cord` elements. A `Cord` is a sequence of
characters that internally uses a tree structure to store their data,
avoiding the need for long regions of contiguous memory, and allows memory
sharing, sub-std::string copy-on-write, and a host of other advanced std::string
features.
## Strings Library File Listing
The following header files are directly included within the
`absl::strings` library.
## Alternate std::string-like Classes
* `bytestream.h`
Abstraction of std::string for I/O
* `string_view.h`
Pointer to part or all of another std::string
## Formatting and Parsing
* `numbers.h`
Converter between strings and numbers. Prefer `str_cat.h` for numbers
to strings
## Operations on Characters
* `ascii_ctype.h`
Char classifiers like <ctype.h> but faster
* `charset.h`
Bitmap from unsigned char -> bool
## Operations on Strings
* `case.h`
Case-changers
* `escaping.h`
Escapers and unescapers
* `str_join.h`
Joiner functions using a delimiter
* `str_split.h`
Split functions
* `str_cat.h`
Concatenators and appenders
* `string_view_utils.h`
Utility functions for strings
* `strip.h`
Character removal functions
* `substitute.h`
Printf-like typesafe formatter
## Miscellaneous
* `util.h`
Grab bag of useful std::string functions
## Cord Library File Listing
The following header files are directly included within the
`absl::strings::cord` library:
## The `Cord` Class
* `cord.h`
A std::string built from a tree of shareable nodes
## Operations on Cords
* `cord_cat.h`
Concatenator functions for cords
* `cord_util.h`
Utility functions for cords