Reading Data from Standard Input Until End-of-File in C

When working with data directly from user input in C , it's often desirable to read all data until the end-of-file (EOF) is reached. The cin.get() function allows for reading data until a specified character is encountered. However, using '\0' as the termination character may not be optimal as it doesn't truly represent EOF.

Using Loops for Data Extraction

The most effective solution for reading data until EOF involves the use of loops. The std::getline() function is particularly suitable for this purpose. By default, getline() reads data until a newline character is encountered. However, an alternative termination character can be specified:

std::string line;
while (std::getline(std::cin, line))
{
    std::cout 
In this example, getline() reads each line of data until the end-of-file is reached. The loop terminates when getline() fails to read any more data, indicating that EOF has been encountered.
Alternative Termination Character
Although EOF is not a character that can be specified directly, you can use a sentinel value to represent EOF. For instance, you can initialize a variable to a specific value and read data until that value is encountered:
const std::string EOF_MARKER = "EOF";
std::string line;
while (getline(std::cin, line))
{
    if (line == EOF_MARKER)
        break;

    std::cout 
This approach allows you to define your own end-of-file indicator, providing greater flexibility in your data processing.