GETCHAR(3POSIX)

📦 version 2017a, in debian bookworm, debian trixie, ubuntu jammy, ubuntu noble, ubuntu resolute, ubuntu stonking

🎀 GETCHAR(3POSIX) — the POSIX Programmer's Manual, bestie edition 🎀

okay so before anything else: this page lives in the POSIX Programmer's Manual, k? 💅

🌈 PROLOG

This manual page is part of the POSIX Programmer's Manual. The Linux implementation of this interface may differ (consult the corresponding Linux manual page for details of Linux behavior), or the interface may not be implemented on Linux.

no cap, that's a real heads up — Linux might do its own thing here, or not have it at all. always check the Linux page. 🙈

✨ NAME

getchar — get a byte from a stdin stream

literally that's the whole job. one byte. from stdin. iconic. 🦋

🌸 SYNOPSIS

#include <stdio.h>

int getchar(void);

💖 DESCRIPTION

The functionality described on this reference page is aligned with the ISO C standard. Any conflict between the requirements described here and the ISO C standard is unintentional. This volume of POSIX.1‐2017 defers to the ISO C standard.

The getchar() function shall be equivalent to getc(stdin).

so yeah — getchar() and getc(stdin) are the same girl, different font. 💅

🔥 RETURN VALUE

Refer to fgetc().

(go read that one, bestie, it's holding all the tea ☕)

👑 ERRORS

Refer to fgetc().

The following sections are informative.

🍓 EXAMPLES

None.

😭 not a single example. we move.

🧚 APPLICATION USAGE

If the integer value returned by getchar() is stored into a variable of type char and then compared against the integer constant EOF, the comparison may never succeed, because sign-extension of a variable of type char on widening to integer is implementation-defined.

🚨 ok this one matters, fr fr. store that return value in an int, NOT a char. if you shove it in a char and then compare to EOF, the comparison may never succeed. and that's not even a bug you caused — sign-extension of a char widening to int is implementation-defined. so it's giving "works on my machine" energy and we don't do that. int only. periodt. 💀

💜 RATIONALE

None.

⭐ FUTURE DIRECTIONS

None.

🌈 SEE ALSO

  • Section 2.5, Standard I/O Streams
  • getc()

The Base Definitions volume of POSIX.1‐2017, <stdio.h>

Portions of this text are reprinted and reproduced in electronic form from IEEE Std 1003.1-2017, Standard for Information Technology -- Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX), The Open Group Base Specifications Issue 7, 2018 Edition, Copyright (C) 2018 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc and The Open Group. In the event of any discrepancy between this version and the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard, the original IEEE and The Open Group Standard is the referee document. The original Standard can be obtained online at http://www.opengroup.org/unix/online.html .

Any typographical or formatting errors that appear in this page are most likely to have been introduced during the conversion of the source files to man page format. To report such errors, see https://www.kernel.org/doc/man-pages/reporting_bugs.html .

and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🌟 this one came from IEEE/The Open Group, dated 2017, and it's GETCHAR(3POSIX) if you need to cite her. mwah, go read fgetc() next, ily 💖✨

📦 where this page comes from