What is the fastest way to count lines and words in a text file in ANSI C?

Question

What is the fastest way to count lines and words in a text file in pure ANSI C?

A word is terminated by a space or period. Line is terminated by \'\\n\'

Answer 1

• Read the file in
• Iterate over characters increment character counter
• Check if space/end of line increment word counter
• Repeat second and third steps until EOF