diff --git a/ex5.3/main.cpp b/ex5.3/main.cpp
index d0de438..15eb2c8 100644
--- a/ex5.3/main.cpp
+++ b/ex5.3/main.cpp
@@ -24,9 +24,6 @@ int main( int argc, char* argv[] ) {
 	const int bufsize = 100;
 	char buf[bufsize];
 
-	const int linebufsize = 10;
-	char linebuf[linebufsize];
-
 	// if EOF, fh returns false
 	while( fh ) {
 		fh.getline(buf, bufsize);
@@ -36,10 +33,11 @@ int main( int argc, char* argv[] ) {
 
 		std::istringstream line(buf);
 		while( line ) {
-			linebuf[0] = '\0';
+			std::string linebuf;
+
 			line >> linebuf;
 
-			if ( linebuf[0] != '\0' ) {
+			if ( ! linebuf.empty() ) {
 				wordcount++ ;
 			}