> Fixed-size arrays are often (not always) bad. I usually try to malloc,
>From the consequent posts in this thread, I gather that people cite buffer-overflows as a reason to avoid fixed size arrays. The idea proposed is to malloc as much memory as the input is received dynamically. To reiterate, buffer overflows are *logical* errors and may be caused by faulty management of dynamic memory too. I would even say that dynamic vs. static memory allocation vis-a-vis buffer overflows is a non-issue! It's all governed by the needs of the program. Like, in places where reading large chunks of data is required, the most commonly used method is to allocate block-sized buffers at once, fill them up and then allocate more block-sized chunks or re-use the old buffer. (There's another neat method given in the Dragon Book). For things like names, or dates, one may use fixed size arrays, use functions like snprintf(), fgets(), strncpy() instead of their 'non-n' counterparts and do some bounds checking where these functions maybe inadequate. -- Tahir Hashmi (VSE, NCST) http://staff.ncst.ernet.in/tahir tahir AT ncst DOT ernet DOT in We, the rest of humanity, wish GNU luck and Godspeed _______________________________________________ http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
