tlug: gcc question

["Drew C. Poulin" <poulin@example.com>]

Pardon me if this question is inappropriate for this list, but after
following it for several months, I thought someone might have a ready
answer.

I'd like to continue to use gcc and xxgdb for some C classes I've
been taking, but I seem to have encountered a difference in how gcc
handles * char compared with how the MSVC++ compiler handles it.  An
example is the code fragment below. gcc gives me a segmentation error when
it runs, while MSVC++ doesn't.   Apparently the problem occurs when gets()
tries to access *lname at 0x0.  I suppose there must be  a good reason for
this.  Can anyone tell me what it is and tell me how I should be handling
it?

Thank you for any insight.

Drew Poulin


#include<stdio.h>


main(){
  
  char *fname, *lname;
 
  puts("Enter fname:\n");
  gets(fname);
  puts("Enter lname:\n");
  gets(lname);
 printf("First name: %s\tLast name: %s\n", fname, lname);

}


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