Is it safe to use getchar() and putchar()









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I've been told that I should use fgets and sscanf instead of scanf and I'm just wondering if there are any problems associated with getchar() and putchar() that are similar to the problems with scanf.










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    I've been told that I should use fgets and sscanf instead of scanf and I'm just wondering if there are any problems associated with getchar() and putchar() that are similar to the problems with scanf.










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      I've been told that I should use fgets and sscanf instead of scanf and I'm just wondering if there are any problems associated with getchar() and putchar() that are similar to the problems with scanf.










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      I've been told that I should use fgets and sscanf instead of scanf and I'm just wondering if there are any problems associated with getchar() and putchar() that are similar to the problems with scanf.







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      asked Nov 10 at 22:52









      HoneyBunchers

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          no since getchar and putchar (unlike gets, scanf, fgets) use char types, not char *, so there's no risk of buffer overflow since there's no buffer (there is a buffer since I/O is buffered, but you don't control its size and it's properly managed by the C library)



          Be careful when using them in a loop not to recreate security issues in your own code, the ones that you wanted to avoid.



          If your goal is to read a string using getchar, you'll have to create a loop to store characters. If you aren't careful, you could end up with the same kind of buffer overflow issues. The problem has just moved somewhere else in your code.






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            The main problem with scanf is that it's pattern language doesn't always allow enough control, particularly if you want to restrict input to a line-oriented format. A secondary problem, which can be overcome by specifying size limits, is that by default string fields are of unlimited size and can therefore overflow their destination buffers.



            getchar does not suffer from either of those issues,, for reasons which I hope are obvious.






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              2 Answers
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              active

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              2 Answers
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              up vote
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              down vote



              accepted










              no since getchar and putchar (unlike gets, scanf, fgets) use char types, not char *, so there's no risk of buffer overflow since there's no buffer (there is a buffer since I/O is buffered, but you don't control its size and it's properly managed by the C library)



              Be careful when using them in a loop not to recreate security issues in your own code, the ones that you wanted to avoid.



              If your goal is to read a string using getchar, you'll have to create a loop to store characters. If you aren't careful, you could end up with the same kind of buffer overflow issues. The problem has just moved somewhere else in your code.






              share|improve this answer
























                up vote
                0
                down vote



                accepted










                no since getchar and putchar (unlike gets, scanf, fgets) use char types, not char *, so there's no risk of buffer overflow since there's no buffer (there is a buffer since I/O is buffered, but you don't control its size and it's properly managed by the C library)



                Be careful when using them in a loop not to recreate security issues in your own code, the ones that you wanted to avoid.



                If your goal is to read a string using getchar, you'll have to create a loop to store characters. If you aren't careful, you could end up with the same kind of buffer overflow issues. The problem has just moved somewhere else in your code.






                share|improve this answer






















                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote



                  accepted







                  up vote
                  0
                  down vote



                  accepted






                  no since getchar and putchar (unlike gets, scanf, fgets) use char types, not char *, so there's no risk of buffer overflow since there's no buffer (there is a buffer since I/O is buffered, but you don't control its size and it's properly managed by the C library)



                  Be careful when using them in a loop not to recreate security issues in your own code, the ones that you wanted to avoid.



                  If your goal is to read a string using getchar, you'll have to create a loop to store characters. If you aren't careful, you could end up with the same kind of buffer overflow issues. The problem has just moved somewhere else in your code.






                  share|improve this answer












                  no since getchar and putchar (unlike gets, scanf, fgets) use char types, not char *, so there's no risk of buffer overflow since there's no buffer (there is a buffer since I/O is buffered, but you don't control its size and it's properly managed by the C library)



                  Be careful when using them in a loop not to recreate security issues in your own code, the ones that you wanted to avoid.



                  If your goal is to read a string using getchar, you'll have to create a loop to store characters. If you aren't careful, you could end up with the same kind of buffer overflow issues. The problem has just moved somewhere else in your code.







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                  answered Nov 10 at 22:58









                  Jean-François Fabre

                  99.7k953109




                  99.7k953109






















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                      The main problem with scanf is that it's pattern language doesn't always allow enough control, particularly if you want to restrict input to a line-oriented format. A secondary problem, which can be overcome by specifying size limits, is that by default string fields are of unlimited size and can therefore overflow their destination buffers.



                      getchar does not suffer from either of those issues,, for reasons which I hope are obvious.






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                        up vote
                        1
                        down vote













                        The main problem with scanf is that it's pattern language doesn't always allow enough control, particularly if you want to restrict input to a line-oriented format. A secondary problem, which can be overcome by specifying size limits, is that by default string fields are of unlimited size and can therefore overflow their destination buffers.



                        getchar does not suffer from either of those issues,, for reasons which I hope are obvious.






                        share|improve this answer






















                          up vote
                          1
                          down vote










                          up vote
                          1
                          down vote









                          The main problem with scanf is that it's pattern language doesn't always allow enough control, particularly if you want to restrict input to a line-oriented format. A secondary problem, which can be overcome by specifying size limits, is that by default string fields are of unlimited size and can therefore overflow their destination buffers.



                          getchar does not suffer from either of those issues,, for reasons which I hope are obvious.






                          share|improve this answer












                          The main problem with scanf is that it's pattern language doesn't always allow enough control, particularly if you want to restrict input to a line-oriented format. A secondary problem, which can be overcome by specifying size limits, is that by default string fields are of unlimited size and can therefore overflow their destination buffers.



                          getchar does not suffer from either of those issues,, for reasons which I hope are obvious.







                          share|improve this answer












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                          answered Nov 10 at 23:01









                          rici

                          151k19131194




                          151k19131194



























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