I feel like one alternative is missing from the list: fp = fmemopen(buf, sizeof(buf), "w"); fputs("one", fp); fputs("two", fp); fputs("three", fp);

I feel like one alternative is missing from the list: fp = fmemopen(buf, sizeof(buf), "w"); fputs("one", fp); fputs("two", fp); fputs("three", fp); fclose(fp); Not sure how it performs, but it reads pretty well IMHO.