CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cstringstrcmp
Ashish Vyas
Ashish Vyas

Reputation: 617

strcmp behaviour

When I run the following code: 

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int p = 0;

    p = strcmp(NULL,"foo");

    return 0;
}

I get segmentation fault. echo $? says 139. But when I run 

#include <stdio.h>

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    int p = 0;

    strcmp(NULL,"foo"); // Note removed assignment

    return 0;
}

I don't get any segmentation fault. Could someone please throw some light?

Here is my gcc info:

> gcc --version
gcc (GCC) 3.4.6 20060404 (Red Hat 3.4.6-8)

Upvotes: 14

Views: 20673

Answers (3)

Maxim Egorushkin
Maxim Egorushkin

Reputation: 136266

You are probably using optimization options when compiling. Since the result of strcmp() in the second snippet is ignored the compiler eliminates this function call and this is why your program does not crash. This call can be eliminated only because strcmp() is an intrinsic function, the compiler is aware that this function does not have any side effects.

Upvotes: 30

unwind
unwind

Reputation: 399833

You need to:

  • Include the proper headers, or declare functions manually. For strcmp(), you need <string.h>.
  • Not pass an invalid pointer such as NULL to strcmp(), since it doesn't protect against it and will dereference the pointer, thus causing undefined behavior in your program.

Upvotes: 6

Benoit
Benoit

Reputation: 79185

What you are doing is undefined. strcmp requires valid pointers to null-terminated strings.

NULL is not a pointer to a null-terminated string.

Upvotes: 3

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