Word-splitting, escape character interpretation and so forth is done by the shell. The shell is only invoked if you use the system() call to run said tool. Whi

Word-splitting, escape character interpretation and so forth is done by the shell. The shell is only invoked if you use the system() call to run said tool. Which you shouldn't. execve (and friends) will let you pass an explicit array of flags, and you should always use one of those functions if you're calling another program. No interpretation.