Don't use gets

[SpeakerForTheDead]

I've heard often that one should never use gets. I've been told to use cin.getline instead.

Does anyone know if gets could seriously mess up one's compiler if used frequently?

 

[dds82]

The problem with gets is that there's no parameter for the maximum number of characters to read. This leaves major security holes in your application.

For example:

char text[100];

gets(text);

If someone inputs text longer than 100 characters, gets will read in all the characters inputted. That person has now overwrote the program's call stack. A malicious user can put machine-language commands after the 100th character, and they will be executed.