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How can I open files mentioned on the command line, and parse option flags?
How can I open files mentioned on the command line, and parse option flags? Here is a skeleton which implements a traditional Unix-style argv parse, handling option flags beginning with -, and optional filenames. (The two flags accepted by this example are -a and -b; -b takes an argument.) #include ...
2015-03-11, 1783👍, 0💬

Why doesn't C have an exponentiation operator?
Why doesn't C have an exponentiation operator? One reason is probably that few processors have a built-in exponentiation instruction. C has a pow function (declared in &lt;math.h>) for performing exponentiation, although explicit multiplication is usually better for small positive integral expon...
2015-06-24, 1779👍, 0💬

Must I free allocated memory before the program exits?
Must I free allocated memory before the program exits? You shouldn't have to. A real operating system definitively reclaims all memory and other resources when a program exits; the system cannot afford to have memory integrity depend on the whims of random programs. (Strictly speaking, it is not eve...
2016-03-28, 1778👍, 0💬

People claim that optimizing compilers are good and that we no longer have to write things in assembler for speed
People claim that optimizing compilers are good and that we no longer have to write things in assembler for speed, but my compiler can't even replace i/=2 with a shift. A: Was i signed or unsigned? If it was signed, a shift is not equivalent (hint: think about the result if i is negative and odd), s...
2015-02-06, 1776👍, 0💬

So what could go wrong? Are there really any systems where void main doesnt work?
So what could go wrong? Are there really any systems where void main doesnt work? It has been reported that programs using void main() and compiled using BC++ 4.5 can crash. Some compilers (including DEC C V4.1 and gcc with certain warnings enabled) will complain about void main().
2015-12-18, 1775👍, 0💬

How can I handle floating-point exceptions gracefully?
How can I handle floating-point exceptions gracefully? On many systems, you can define a function matherr which will be called when there are certain floating-point errors, such as errors in the math routines in . You may also be able to use signal to catch SIGFPE.
2015-06-21, 1772👍, 0💬

How can I determine whether a machines byte order is big-endian or little-endian?
How can I determine whether a machines byte order is big-endian or little-endian? The usual techniques are to use a pointer: int x = 1; if(*(char *)&amp;x == 1) printf("little-endian\n"); else printf("big-endian\n"); or a union: union { int i; char c[sizeof(int)]; } x; x.i = 1; if(x.c[0] == 1) p...
2015-02-16, 1770👍, 0💬

Why doesnt this code work?
Why doesn't this code: double d; scanf("%f", &amp;d); work? Unlike printf, scanf uses %lf for values of type double, and %f for float.%f tells scanf to expect a pointer-to-float, not the pointer-to-double you gave it. Either use %lf, or declare the receiving variable as a float.
2015-10-30, 1769👍, 0💬

Why doesnt strcat work? ....
Why doesn't strcat(string, '!'); work? There is a very real difference between characters and strings, and strcat concatenates strings. A character constant like '!' represents a single character. A string literal between double quotes usually represents multiple characters. A string literal like "!...
2016-03-14, 1768👍, 0💬

How can I write a generic macro to swap two values?
How can I write a generic macro to swap two values? There is no good answer to this question. If the values are integers, a well-known trick using exclusive-OR could perhaps be used, but it will not work for floating-point values or pointers, or if the two values are the same variable. If the macro ...
2016-02-24, 1767👍, 0💬

Now I am trying to sort an array of structures with qsort ...
Now I'm trying to sort an array of structures with qsort. My comparison function takes pointers to structures, but the compiler complains that the function is of the wrong type for qsort. How can I cast the function pointer to shut off the warning? The conversions must be in the comparison function,...
2015-08-10, 1762👍, 0💬

How can I use a preprocessorif expression to ? ....
How can I use a preprocessor #if expression to tell whether a machine's byte order is big-endian or little-endian? You probably can't. The usual techniques for detecting endianness involve pointers or arrays of char, or maybe unions, but preprocessor arithmetic uses only long integers, and there is ...
2016-02-01, 1759👍, 0💬

What was noalias and what ever happened to it?
What was noalias and what ever happened to it? noalias was another type qualifier, in the same syntactic class as const and volatile, which was intended to assert that an object was not pointed to (``aliased'') by other pointers. The primary application, which is an important one, would have been fo...
2015-12-02, 1758👍, 0💬

Why cant I pass a char to a function which expects a const char ?
Why cant I pass a char to a function which expects a const char ? You can use a pointer-to-T (for any type T) where a pointer-to-const-T is expected. However, the rule (an explicit exception) which permits slight mismatches in qualified pointer types is not applied recursively, but only at the top l...
2016-01-04, 1757👍, 0💬

What does the message Automatic aggregate intialization is an ANSI feature mean?
What does the message Automatic aggregate intialization is an ANSI feature'' mean? My compiler is complaining about valid ANSI code. Messages like these are typically emitted by pre-ANSI compilers which have been upgraded just enough to detect (but not properly translate) new C features which were i...
2015-11-30, 1757👍, 0💬

The predefined constant M_PI seems to be missing from my machines copy of math.h.
The predefined constant M_PI seems to be missing from my machines copy of math.h. That constant (which is apparently supposed to be the value of pi, accurate to the machine's precision), is not standard; in fact a standard-conforming copy of should not #define a symbol M_PI. If you need pi, you'll h...
2015-06-24, 1757👍, 0💬

How can I call FORTRAN?
How can I call FORTRAN? Q: How can I call FORTRAN (C++, BASIC, Pascal, Ada, LISP) functions from C? (And vice versa?) A: The answer is entirely dependent on the machine and the specific calling sequences of the various compilers in use, and may not be possible at all. Read your compiler documentatio...
2015-01-12, 1755👍, 0💬

Why doesnt long int work?
Why doesn't long int n = 123456; printf("%d\n", n); work? Whenever you print long ints you must use the l (lower case letter ``ell'') modifier in the printf format (e.g. %ld). printf can't know the types of the arguments which you've passed to it, so you must let it know by using the correct format ...
2015-11-09, 1751👍, 0💬

I can write C code that looks more like Pascal? ....
Here are some cute preprocessor macros: #define begin { #define end } With these, I can write C code that looks more like Pascal. What do y'all think? Use of macros like these, though perhaps superficially attractive, is generally discouraged; in severe cases the practice is called ``preprocessor ab...
2016-02-24, 1750👍, 0💬

Are pointers really faster than arrays?
Are pointers really faster than arrays? How much do function calls slow things down? Is ++i faster than i = i + 1? Precise answers to these and many similar questions depend of course on the processor and compiler in use. If you simply must know, you'll have to time test programs carefully. (Often t...
2015-02-09, 1744👍, 0💬

Since array references decay into pointers ...
Since array references decay into pointers, if arr is an array, what's the difference between arr and &arr? The type. In Standard C, &arr yields a pointer, of type pointer-to-array-of-T, to the entire array. (In pre-ANSI C, the & in &arr generally elicited a warning, and was generall...
2015-12-09, 1742👍, 0💬

What printf format should I use for a typedef like size_t when I don't know whether it is long or some other type?
What printf format should I use for a typedef like size_t when I don't know whether it is long or some other type? Use a cast to convert the value to a known, conservatively-sized type, then use the printf format matching that type. For example, to print the size of a type, you might use printf("%lu...
2015-11-04, 1738👍, 0💬

Does the sizeof operator work in preprocessor if directives?
Does the sizeof operator work in preprocessor if directives? No. Preprocessing happens during an earlier phase of compilation, before type names have been parsed. Instead of sizeof, consider using the predefined constants in ANSI's &lt;limits.h>, if applicable, or perhaps a ``configure'' script....
2016-02-03, 1736👍, 0💬

How can I include expansions of the macros .....
How can I include expansions of the __FILE__ and __LINE__ macros in a general-purpose debugging macro? One solution involves writing your debug macro in terms of a varargs function , and an auxiliary function which stashes the values of __FILE__ and __LINE__ away in static variables, as in: #include...
2016-01-15, 1736👍, 0💬

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