Thread: Useful program

Originally Posted by sean_mackrory

And as for conio.h, the only problem is that it's non-standard. If you're distributing a commercial application, that's not a problem.

I think all noobs shouldn't follow this rule, because a lot of rules makes programming really distasteful. Don't do THIS, do THAT, and then I get confused and I get depressed! Sometimes people who say: "Don't do this!" that don't even supply the solution for what to use without it. And that's ok, but it gets intense! It's hard being a learner :'(

However whiny one can be about it does not change the fact that it is nonstandard, and causes problems when asking for help and posting source code. It's not like there's a bunch of trolls going around beating up newbies for their lunch money and then telling them not to use conio.h and void main, etc... as they walk away. It's a fact, plain and simple.

1. You shouldn't be using Turbo C anyway.

Yes, I find Dev-C++ much better. It's free and very common.

2. gets() is a standard function, it is not in conio.h

I'm not sure quite what you're replying to here... I'll just say that gets is standard, but the way it's generally used can run you into problems easily. Using fgets with stdin as your file pointer is a much better solution.

4. getch() should also be replaced with getchar()

Though it should be pointed out that getchar will wait until you press Enter, and IIRC, getch() will return on the first key pressed. It's a less desirable effect, but I still stand by the former arguments against it's use.

I'm not sure quite what you're replying to here...

i was replying to this

Heck, if I didn't use gets I don't think I would need conio.h to begin with

I'm not too familiar with what kbhit() does but I assume you can replace it with getchar()

It returns true if a key has been hit, false if not

Edit: More correctly if there is data in the input stream

it works for everything I have done

I'd bet you void main would work for everything you've done so far too... Just because it's worked before doesn't make it the right chouce. I do however, remember something about Turbo C being non-standard. Am I right, or am I confusing Turbo C with something else?

just replace gets() with fgets()
eg.

Code:

char code[3];
int code2;

gets(code);
code2=atoi(code);

/* The above would become... */

char code[3];

fgets(code,sizeof(code),stdin);

Borland has always used non standard headers and non standard functions. Thats all I know.

I think he's just having a problem with getting a character rather than a whole string, but ya never know, here's another example:

Code:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int main() {
	// Get some input
	char YourName[50];
	fgets(YourName, sizeof(YourName), stdin);
	printf("Your name is %s", YourName);
}

char *fgets(char *buffer, int size, FILE* stream);
stdin would be the terminal stream.