Modern C [pdf]

Post by ArkyBeagle » Mon, Nov 28, 2016, 11:26 PM UTC

thegeomaster wrote: post #143

ape4 wrote: post #135

Goto is considered useful by the book: The use of goto and similar jumps in programming languages has been subject to intensive debate, starting from an article by Dijkstra [1968]. Still today you will find people that seriously object code as it is given here, but let us try to be pragmatic about that: code with or without goto can be ugly and hard to follow.

I've found goto to be a good way of dealing with exceptions in low-level C. For example: void* foo() { int handle = get_some_handle(); if (handle I've seen this pattern frequently in the Linux source code. I think this is an example of a case where usage of goto improves readability and reduces errors.

Post by flukus » Mon, Nov 28, 2016, 11:31 PM UTC

Longhanks wrote: post #262

fryguy wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "what does `public static void main` mean?" The problem with this question is that there is a ton of stuff you need to understand before you can really answer that question fully. To know what public means, you need to understand classes, and visibility rules for classes. To understand static fully, you kind of need to know how c++ works, since it's equivalent to a bare function in a namespace. Void is the type of…

Then why start teaching programming with Java in the first place when understanding those concepts involves an at least mediocre understanding of object orientation? There are many more languages that implement a "Hello, world!" with one line of code. If explaining "public static void main" is too hard, maybe one is using the wrong tool.

Post by ArkyBeagle » Mon, Nov 28, 2016, 11:42 PM UTC

benmmurphy wrote: post #118

buserror wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Just about every software project written has some serious bugs" There, fixed it for you. Seriously, vulnerabilities and bugs are found everywhere not just in C. I've been programming for 35 years, in so many languages I lost count, and every time I've seen the 'let's not use C because it'll lead to bugs' it was to be replaced by another thing that was ALSO leading to bugs, and/or become so bloated it was in itself.…

The big problem with C is the memory safety issues. It is extremely difficult to write C code and be safe from malicious input. If you use a memory safe language these difficult issues are erased. I realise the compiler/runtime can't stop all bugs but fixing these simple errors goes a long way to producing robust secure software.

Post by ArkyBeagle » Mon, Nov 28, 2016, 11:50 PM UTC

sndean wrote: post #201

Pardon my noobness, but if I learned and became proficient in C and knew nothing else, would I have a marketable skill? Is it possible for C to be a standalone skill, where ones job could be 100% programming in C, or do you need a lot of auxiliary knowledge outside of that?

Post by flukus » Mon, Nov 28, 2016, 11:58 PM UTC

ape4 wrote: post #213

thegeomaster wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've found goto to be a good way of dealing with exceptions in low-level C. For example: void* foo() { int handle = get_some_handle(); if (handle I've seen this pattern frequently in the Linux source code. I think this is an example of a case where usage of goto improves readability and reduces errors.

This looks fine to me. I wonder if C/C++ could be improved by introducing a new keyword `bail` which is the same as `goto` but is only allowed to jump to the bottom of the function. That way, codebases can outlaw `goto` but keep `bail`.