how to compare characters of two strings in c++ code example

Example 1: how to compare two char* in c++

#include <string.h>
...
if (strcmp(firstSTR, secondSTR) == 0) {
    // strings are equal
    ...
} else {
    // strings are NOT equal
}

Example 2: how to compare strings in c++

// comparing apples with apples
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

int main ()
{
  std::string str1 ("green apple");
  std::string str2 ("red apple");

  if (str1.compare(str2) != 0)
    std::cout << str1 << " is not " << str2 << '\n';

  if (str1.compare(6,5,"apple") == 0)
    std::cout << "still, " << str1 << " is an apple\n";

  if (str2.compare(str2.size()-5,5,"apple") == 0)
    std::cout << "and " << str2 << " is also an apple\n";

  if (str1.compare(6,5,str2,4,5) == 0)
    std::cout << "therefore, both are apples\n";

  return 0;
}