atol() v/s. strtol()

Question

What is the difference between atol() & strtol()?

According to their man pages, they seem to have the same effect as well as matching arguments:

Answer 1

atol(str) is equivalent to

strtol(str, (char **)NULL, 10);

Use strtol if you want the end pointer (to check whether there are more characters to read or if in fact you have read any at all) or a base other than 10. Otherwise, atol is fine.