gets() in C++

Syntax of gets() in C++

The syntax of function gets in C++ is as follows:

Parameters of gets() in C++

The function gets in C++ accepts a pointer to the array of characters where the data is to be stored.

Return value of gets() in C++

1. On Success: It returns the pointer to that string/array of characters in which the data was stored. 2. On Failure: Null Pointer.

Example

Input:

Output:

In the above code, we take input for str using gets() function.

What is gets() in C++

The gets() function in C++ reads characters from the stdin until a new line or end of the file is reached. It accepts a pointer to the memory where it stores those array of characters. After successfully writing characters in the character array, a terminating null character is automatically appended after the characters are copied to str.

This function doesn't set a limit on storing data in the buffer, which means it doesn't prevent the buffer overflow to the destination memory and keeps reading the data. In such a case, it terminates the program with a runtime error.

More Examples

Buffer Overflow Example

This is the most problematic scenario while using the function gets in C++.

Input:

Output:

In the above code, the input stream is greater than the size of the character array, due to which the program gives a runtime error.