Keeping strcpy and memcpy straight when copying memory.

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Students often use strcpy when they should be using memcpy, and vice versa. This video explains the difference, and hopefully helps you keep them straight in your projects.



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Welcome! I post videos that help you learn to program and become a more confident software developer. I cover beginner-to-advanced systems topics ranging from network programming, threads, processes, operating systems, embedded systems and others. My goal is to help you get under-the-hood and better understand how computers work and how you can use them to become stronger students and more capable professional developers.

About me: I'm a computer scientist, electrical engineer, researcher, and teacher. I specialize in embedded systems, mobile computing, sensor networks, and the Internet of Things. I teach systems and networking courses at Clemson University, where I also lead the PERSIST research lab.

More about me and what I do:



***

Welcome! I post videos that help you learn to program and become a more confident software developer. I cover beginner-to-advanced systems topics ranging from network programming, threads, processes, operating systems, embedded systems and others. My goal is to help you get under-the-hood and better understand how computers work and how you can use them to become stronger students and more capable professional developers.

About me: I'm a computer scientist, electrical engineer, researcher, and teacher. I specialize in embedded systems, mobile computing, sensor networks, and the Internet of Things. I teach systems and networking courses at Clemson University, where I also lead the PERSIST research lab.

More about me and what I do:

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[paulk]

strncpy isn't just like strncpy except for copying only up to n bytes. It actually always writes exactly n bytes:

"If the length of src is less than n, strncpy() writes additional null bytes to dest to ensure that a total of n bytes are written."

[DhimantThanki]

This is the first channel where I found the actual usage of memcpy()

[prashanthkumar]

I am watching all your videos from begining till end because i really lile the content...

I have a question though..

how can system() be exploited if im just using const char in it ?!

[rustycherkas]

strncpy() is a misleading name, so often associated with strcpy. and strcat().
If strlen( src ) >= len, this function is equivalent to memcpy() and does not guarantee a null terminated string in the destination.
Just something to be aware of...

[maxaafbackname]

If the length of the string is known, is memcpy() faster than strcpy()?
Or do the perfom equal in most implementations?

No one implements strcpy() with calls to strlen() + memcpy() I hope...

[aritrasurroy]

But then we could use memcpy instead of strncpy to copy upto a certain no of bytes?

[KFlorent]

Is 0 the null character ? I thought it was \0 ?

[imveryhungry]

i USED STRCPY GOT HACKED THEY TOOK OVER MY APP