+* C style
+
+** Language subset and extensions
+
+I'm trying to support C89 still. There are few really worthwhile
+features in C99 and later, though there are some. For now, I want Sod
+to continue working if built with a C89 compiler, even if some things --
+e.g., most notably the macro sugar for varargs messages -- are
+unavailable.
+
+Similarly, I'll use compiler-specific features if they don't adversely
+affect portability. For example, I'll use GCC attributes to improve
+compiler diagnostics, but they're wrapped up in preprocessor hacking so
+that they won't be noticed by compilers which don't understand them.
+I'm generally happy to accept contributions which make similar
+improvements for other compilers.
+
+Sod is supposed to have minimal dependencies. It should be able to work
+in what the ISO C standard names a `freestanding environment', without
+most of the standard C library. The keyword-argument library is
+carefully split into a piece which is fully portable and a piece which
+depends on features which are only available in hosted environments,
+like being able to print stuff to ~stderr~, so that users targetting
+embedded systems have an easy porting job.
+
+** Naming
+
+I usually give local variables, arguments, and structure members very
+short names, just one or two characters long. I find that longer names
+are harder to distinguish, and take up horizontal space. Besides,
+mathematicians have been using single-letter variable names quite
+successfully for hundreds of years.
+
+I usually choose variable names to match their types in an informal way.
+Loop counters are often called ~i~, ~j~, ~k~; generic pointers, and
+pointers to bytes or characters, are usually ~p~ or ~q~; a character is
+often ~ch~; a ~FILE~ pointer is ~fp~ following long tradition; sizes of
+things, in bytes, are ~sz~, while lengths of vectors, in elements, are
+~n~. I often name values of, or pointers to, structures or custom types
+with the first letter of the type. If I have two things of the same
+kind, I'll often double the name of one of them; e.g., if I have two
+pointers to ~whatsit~ structures, I might call them ~w~ and ~ww~.
+
+I don't (any more) give ~typedef~ names to structures or unions. This
+makes it possible to have a variable with the same name as the structure
+tag without serious trouble.
+
+In variable names, I tend to just squash pieces of words together; in
+longer names, sometimes I'll put in underscores to split things up a
+bit. Camel case is bletcherous.
+
+File-scope names with /internal/ linkage -- i.e., things marked ~static~
+-- generally deserve somewhat longer names. I don't give them other
+kind of marking; e.g., I'd probably name the pointer to the head of a
+list of ~foo~ things something like ~foohead~.
+
+Names with /external/ linkage want more care because they're playing in
+a shared global namespace.
+
+** Layout
+
+The C indent quantum is two columns.
+
+Declarations go at the top of functions. I don't put declarations in
+inner blocks, and I certainly don't scatter declarations throughout a
+block. I find that having the declarations all in one place makes it
+easier for me to keep track of what things the function is going to be
+thinking about.
+
+If I can't set a variable to its proper value immediately, I'll leave it
+uninitialized until I can. That way, the compiler will warn me if I
+forget.
+
+Most of my style is an attempt to get as much interesting code on the
+screen at a time, and still be able to read it. The short variable
+names keep things distinct while keeping statements short; short
+statements don't need to be split across multiple lines. And keeping
+the overall line length limit low means I can fit more /columns/ of code
+on my screen.
+
+If there are several related variables with the same declaration
+specifiers, I'll usually write a single declaration for all of them --
+even if they have different actual types. For example,
+
+: struct foo f, *fp = &f;
+
+Note that a ~*~ declarator operator has a space to its left, but never
+to its right. (Stroustrup's style horribly misrepresents the underlying
+syntax.)
+
+I will often write multiple statements on a single line, usually to
+indicate that these things are part of the same thought, and they
+shouldn't be separated. For example, if I'm working through an array of
+things, I might have a pointer ~p~ to the element I'm hacking on, and a
+count ~n~ of things left to hack, I'll have a loop
+
+: while (n) {
+: /* hack on *p */
+: p++; n--;
+: }
+
+so that the two updates don't get separated.
+
+I don't wrap braces around individual statements that fit on a single
+line. For example, I'll write
+
+: while (*p == ' ') p++;
+
+On the other hand, if a single substatement is going to take more than
+one line then it gets wrapped in braces.
+
+I don't write blocks which aren't part of larger compound statements,
+e.g., ~if~ or ~while~. I'll write a compound statementon a single line
+if I can; but I'll split ~if~ with an ~else~ over two lines. For
+example,
+
+: if (a == 1) x = 0;
+: else if (b == 3) { y = 2; z = 1; }
+: else w = 15;
+
+On the other hand, if I can't write all of the branches of an
+~if~\relax/\relax ~else if~ ladder like this, then /all/ of the
+substatements get their own lines. (I write ~do~\relax/\relax ~while~
+loops in the same way, but this comes up much less frequently.)
+
+If I can't write a block on the same line, then the opening brace goes
+on the same line as the statement head, and the closing brace gets its
+own line. A trailing ~else~ or ~while~ goes on the same line as the
+previous closing brace, if there is one.
+
+I don't write spaces inside parentheses or square brackets, or between
+unary operators and their operands. I always write ~sizeof~ as if it
+were a function, even though I know it isn't. I write a single space
+either side of non-multiplicative binary operators -- i.e., other than
+~*~, ~/~, ~%~, and ~&~; I don't write spaces around multiplicative
+operators any more. The comma operator is special, and gets a space
+after, but not before.
+
+If I'm breaking a long line at a binary operator, the break comes
+/after/ the operator, not before.
+
+** Common conventions
+
+A /predicate/ is a function which answers a yes/no question -- and has
+no side-effects. I don't use ~bool~ or similar; predicates return
+~int~, such that zero is false and nonzero is true. Predicates usually
+have names ending in ~p~ or ~_p~. (Note that function names
+beginning ~is...~ are reserved for future ~<ctype.h>~ macros.)
+
+On the other hand, an /operation/ is a function whose main purpose is to
+have an effect -- maybe create a thing, or update some state. In the
+absence of better ideas, operations also return ~int~, but zero
+indicates success, and nonzero -- usually $-1$ -- indicates failure.
+
+** Error handling and resource management
+
+I've tried many techniques. I think the following is the best approach
+so far.
+
+I try to arrange that every type which represents some resource which
+might need releasing has an easily recognizable `inert' value which
+indicates that the resource has not been acquired. At the top of a
+function, I initialize all of the variables which might hold onto
+resources to their inert values. At the end of the function, I place a
+label, ~end~ or ~fail~. An ~end~ label is for common cleanup; a ~fail~
+label is for cleanup that's only needed on unsuccessful completion.
+
+
+** Miscellaneous style issues
+
+I write ~0~, not ~NULL~. Doing this prevents a common error in
+null-terminated variable-length argument lists, e.g., ~execlp~, where
+~NULL~ is actually an integer ~0~ in disguise and ends up being an ~int~
+where a pointer was wanted.
+
+I don't usually write redundant comparisons against ~0~, or ~NULL~, or
+well-known return codes indicating success. Again, this helps with
+compression. I'll write
+
+: rc = do_something(foo, bar); if (rc) goto end;
+
+(yes, one line) rather than comparing ~rc~ against some ~STATUS_SUCCESS~
+code or similar. Exception: I still haven't decided whether I prefer
+leaving the explicit relational in ~strcmp~ and similar tests.
+
+I always write parentheses around the expression in a ~return~
+statement.
+
+In declarations, storage classes come first (e.g., ~static~, ~extern~,
+~typedef~), followed by qualifiers (~const~, ~volatile~; I never use
+~restrict~), and then the type specifiers, signedness indicators first
+where they aren't redundant (so maybe ~signed char~ for special effects,
+but never ~signed int~), then length indicators, then the base type. I
+omit ~int~ if there are other type specifiers, so ~unsigned~ or ~long~,
+rather than ~unsigned int~ or ~long int~.
+
+The full declarator syntax for function pointer is pretty ugly. I often
+simplify it by defining a ~typedef~ for the /function/ type, not the
+function pointer type. For example
+
+: typedef int callbackfn(struct thing */*t*/, void */*p*/);
+
+I'd then use variables (structure members, arguments, etc.) of type
+~callbackfn *~.
+
+In header files, I comment out argument names to prevent problems with
+macros defined by client translation units. Also, I explicitly mark
+function declarations as being ~extern~.
+
+** Comments and file structuring
+
+I never use C++-style ~//~ comments except for temporary special
+effects.
+
+If a comment fits on one line, then its closing ~*/~ is on the same
+line; otherwise, the ending ~*/~ is on a line by itself, and there's a
+spine of ~*~ characters in a column on the left.
+
+A file starts with a big comment bearing the Emacs ~-*-c-*-~ marker, a
+quick description, and copyright and licensing boilerplate.
+
+Header files are wrapped up with multiple-inclusion and C++ guards, with
+
+: #ifndef HEADER_H
+: #define HEADER_H
+:
+: #ifdef __cplusplus
+: extern "C" {
+: #endif
+
+at the top.
+
+The rest of the file consists of C code. I don't use page boundaries
+~^L~ to split files up. Instead, I use big banner comments for this:
+
+: /*----- Section title -----------------------------------------------------*/
+
+Following long tradition, functions and macros are documented in a
+preceding comment which looks like this.
+
+: /* --- @name@ --- *
+: *
+: * Arguments: @type fmm@ = a five-minute argument
+: * @type fhh@ = the full half-hour
+: *
+: * Returns: A return value.
+: *
+: * Use: It does a thing. Otherwise I wouldn't have bothered.
+: */
+
+Sometimes (rarely) the description of the return value explains
+sufficiently what the thing does. If so, the `Use' part can be omitted.
+Fragments of C code in this comment are surrounded by ~@~ characters.
+There can also be \LaTeX\ maths in here, in ~%$~...\relax ~$%~.
+
+Files end, as a result of long tradition, with a comment
+
+: /*----- That's all, folks -------------------------------------------------*/
+
+The closing ~#endif~ of a header file comes after this final comment.
+
+
~mdw / sod / blobdiff