what are the main differences between fwrite and write?

Question

I'm currently writing a callback function in C :

static size_t writedata(void *ptr, size_t size, size_t nmemb, void *stream){

        size_t written = fwrite(ptr, size, nmemb, (FILE)*stream);
        return written;
}

This function is going to be used in another function, which does a HTTP request, retrieves the request, and writes it to the local machine. That writedata function will be used for the later part. The whole operation has to be multithreaded , so I was in doubt between write and fwrite . Could someone help me outlining the differences between write() and fwrite() in C , so I could choose which one best fits into my problem?

Answer 1

fwrite writes to a FILE* , ie a (potentially) buffered stdio stream. It's specified by the ISO C standard. Additionally, on POSIX systems, fwrite is thread-safe to a certain degree.

write is a lower-level API based on file descriptors, described in the POSIX standard. It doesn't know about buffering. If you want to use it on a FILE* , then fetch its file descriptor with fileno , but be sure to manually lock and flush the stream before attempting a write .

Use fwrite unless you know what you're doing.

Answer 2

The write function is a call that your program makes to the operating system and therefore it is slower than fwrite . It also lacks of buffering which makes it even slower because as the philosophy of buffering suggests: "It is faster to handle many portions of small files rather than a big one." It is also important that write is not part of the c standard, so you probably won't find it non-POSIX systems and (rarely) the apropriate use will differ. You should also known that fwrite and fread are some times implemented using write and read (a simple implementation can be found in the chapter about Unix of K&R).

Another noteable thing is that read and write use file descriptors , but fread and fwrite use the FILE pointers which are actually pointers which contain file descriptors and other info about the file opened.

Answer 3

One very noticeable difference is write is atomic and fwrite isn't.

https://yarchive.net/comp/linux/wakekill.html

Using:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main() {
  if (fork() == 0) {
    FILE* h = fopen("file.txt", "a");
    char* line =
        "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\n";
    for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
      if (write(fileno(h), line, strlen(line)) != strlen(line)) {
        perror("Could not append line to file");
        exit(1);
      }
    }
    if (fclose(h) != 0) {
      perror("Could not close file");
      exit(1);
    }
  } else {
    FILE* h = fopen("file.txt", "a");
    char* line =
        "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\n";
    for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
      if (write(fileno(h), line, strlen(line)) != strlen(line)) {
        perror("Could not append line to file");
        exit(1);
      }
    }
    if (fclose(h) != 0) {
      perror("Could not close file");
      exit(1);
    }
  }
  return 0;
}

You will get output like this, no interleaving lines:

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb

Using:

#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>
#include <unistd.h>

int main() {
  if (fork() == 0) {
    FILE* h = fopen("file.txt", "a");
    char* line =
        "aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa\n";
    for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
      if (fwrite(line, 1, strlen(line), h) != strlen(line)) {
        perror("Could not append line to file");
        exit(1);
      }
    }
    if (fclose(h) != 0) {
      perror("Could not close file");
      exit(1);
    }
  } else {
    FILE* h = fopen("file.txt", "a");
    char* line =
        "bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb\n";
    for (int i = 0; i < 10000; i++) {
      if (fwrite(line, 1, strlen(line), h) != strlen(line)) {
        perror("Could not append line to file");
        exit(1);
      }
    }
    if (fclose(h) != 0) {
      perror("Could not close file");
      exit(1);
    }
  }
  return 0;
}

You will get output like this, interleaving lines:

bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb
bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa