Improvements/suggestions/comments to this simple program.. (leet translator!)

[Captain Penguin]

I'd just like some tips on how to streamline it, make it smaller, any security warnings, etc. Or just comment on how cool I am..

#include <stdio.h>

void leet(char *y);
void ask(void);

	char phrase[100];
	char *y;
	char ans[5];
	char *x;

int main()
{

	ask();
	return 0;
}

void ask()
{

	puts("Would you like to translate something? (Y or N)");
	gets(ans);
	x = ans;
	switch(*x)
	{
	case 'Y':
		puts("What do you want to translate?");
		leet(gets(phrase));
	case 'y':
		puts("What do you want to translate?");
		leet(gets(phrase));
	case 'n':
		puts("You are the weakest link, goodbye!");
		getch();
		exit();
	case 'N':
		puts("You are the weakest link, goodbye!");
		getch();
		exit();
	default:
		puts("That is not an option, you moron.");
			puts("Press any key to return to the REAL WORLD...");
			getch();
			ask();
	}

}

void leet(char *y)
{
	while(*y != '\0')
	{
		
		switch(*y)
		{
		case 'e':
			putchar('3');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'E':
			putchar('3');
			y++;
			break;
		case ' ':
			putchar(' ');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'o':
			putchar('0');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'O':
			putchar('0');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'T':
			putchar('7');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'A':
			putchar('4');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'a':
			putchar('4');
			y++;
			break;
		case 's':
			putchar('$');
			y++;
			break;
		case 'S':
			putchar('$');
			y++;
			break;
		default:
			putchar(*y);
			y++;
			break;
		}
		
	}
	putchar('\n');
	ask();
}

I know, lame program, but it's good practice to me.


Oh yes, I'd also like to know how to make sure that the user doesn't input more characters then the array allows (100)... I know this can be done but I'm not sure how!

[Crossbow]

sorry I accidently clicked twice (damn IE)

[Crossbow]

One thing to cut down on the size is in your switch statement where you say:

case 'Y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(phrase));
case 'y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(phrase));

you can say:

case 'Y':
case 'y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(plrase));
break; //make sure you have a break statement or your switch
//statement won't end, and it will print all the other cases.

you can do the same thing for the other cases. Also, put your variables in their respective functions, global variables can get messy, so it is best not to use them, even with small programs. Also, you are passing a char array to a char pointer so that just won't work. You will have to change phrase to a single byte pointer char, or you can use the reference operator(if you don't know what it is, go to a good C++ pointer tutorial. I knew where one was, but I forgot). Good luck.

[Captain Penguin]

Originally posted by Crossbow
One thing to cut down on the size is in your switch statement where you say:

case 'Y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(phrase));
case 'y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(phrase));

you can say:

case 'Y':
case 'y':
puts("What do you want to translate?");
leet(gets(plrase));
break; //make sure you have a break statement or your switch
//statement won't end, and it will print all the other cases.

you can do the same thing for the other cases. Also, put your variables in their respective functions, global variables can get messy, so it is best not to use them, even with small programs. Also, you are passing a char array to a char pointer so that just won't work. You will have to change phrase to a single byte pointer char, or you can use the reference operator(if you don't know what it is, go to a good C++ pointer tutorial. I knew where one was, but I forgot). Good luck.

Thanks I'll do what I can with the global variables and the switch-case statements but I don't know what you are saying about the function. it looks right to ME, and the program works fine as it is in my post.. hmm..

[Prelude]

>Also, you are passing a char array to a char pointer so that just won't work.
Why not? The name of an array is simply a pointer to the first element of that array, so passing a char array by name to a char pointer is perfectly legal

As for the actual program, here's a compactisized version

#include <stdio.h>

void leet(char *y);
void ask(void);

int main(){
    ask();
    return 0;
}

void ask(){
    char phrase[100], *y, ans[5];

    puts("Would you like to translate something? (Y or N)");
    fgets(ans, sizeof(ans), stdin);

    if(strcmp(ans, "Y") == NULL || strcmp(ans, "y") == NULL){
	puts("What do you want to translate?");
	leet(fgets(phrase, sizeof(phrase), stdin));
    }else if(strcmp(ans, "N") == NULL || strcmp(ans, "n") == NULL){
	puts("You are the weakest link, goodbye!");
	getchar();
	exit(0);
    }else{
	puts("That is not an option, you moron.");
	puts("Press any key to return to the REAL WORLD...");
	getchar();
	ask();
    }
}

void leet(char *y){
    while(*y != '\0'){
	switch(*y)
	{
	case 'e':
	case 'E':
		putchar('3'); y++;
		break;
	case 'o':
	case 'O':
		putchar('0'); y++;
		break;
	case 'T':
		putchar('7'); y++;
		break;
	case 'A':
	case 'a':
		putchar('4'); y++;
		break;
	case 's':
	case 'S':
		putchar('$'); y++;
		break;
	default:
		putchar(*y); y++;
		break;
	}	
    }
    putchar('\n');
    ask();
}

I tried to keep it as similar to what you had as possible while still within the bounds of reason. I got rid of your x variable since it wasn't doing anything useful, fixed your switch to remove redundancies, killed the first switch because it was just taking up space and replaced it with an if-else, and just scrunched everything up and made it a bit tidier. I could make it smaller, but then it wouldn't look anything like your program, so I didn't do that.

-Prelude

[quzah]

void leet(char *y){
    while(*y != '\0'){
	switch(*y)
	{
	case 'e':
	case 'E':
		putchar('3'); y++;
		break;
	case 'o':
	case 'O':
		putchar('0'); y++;
		break;
	case 'T':
		putchar('7'); y++;
		break;
	case 'A':
	case 'a':
		putchar('4'); y++;
		break;
	case 's':
	case 'S':
		putchar('$'); y++;
		break;
	default:
		putchar(*y); y++;
		break;
	}	
    }
    putchar('\n');
    ask();
}

Compact? Use 'toupper' and a single y++ to make it shorter.

void leet(char *y){
    while(*y != '\0'){
	switch(toupper(*y))
	{
	case 'E': putchar('3'); break;
	case 'O': putchar('0'); break;
	case 'T': putchar('7'); break;
	case 'A': putchar('4'); break;
	case 'S': putchar('$'); break;
	default: putchar(*y);
	}
	y++;
    }
    putchar('\n');
    ask();
}

Besides, you forgot to replace the L with 1

Quzah.