If you are using gcc, you can use the GNU-extension a specifier to have scanf() allocate memory for you to hold the input:

int main() { char *str = NULL; scanf ("%as", &str); if (str) { printf("\"%s\"\n", str); free(str); } return 0; } 

If you are using gcc, you can use the GNU-extension a specifier to have scanf() allocate memory for you to hold the input:

int main() { char *str = NULL; scanf ("%as", &str); if (str) { printf("\"%s\"\n", str); free(str); } return 0; } 

Edit: As Jonathan pointed out, you should consult the scanf man pages as the specifier might be different (%m) and you might need to enable certain defines when compiling.