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What are the complete rules for header file searching?
What are the complete rules for header file searching? The exact behavior is implementation-defined (which means that it is supposed to be documented; Typically, headers named with &lt;> syntax are searched for in one or more standard places. Header files named with "" syntax are first searched ...
2016-02-12, 1528👍, 0💬

What is the difference between ...
What's the difference between const MAXSIZE = 100; and #define MAXSIZE 100 A preprocessor #define gives you a true compile-time constant. In C, const gives you a run-time object which you're not supposed to try to modify; ``const'' really means ``readonly''.
2016-02-18, 1526👍, 0💬

What's the difference between using a typedef or a define for a user-defined type?
What's the difference between using a typedef or a define for a user-defined type? In general, typedefs are preferred, in part because they can correctly encode pointer types. For example, consider these declarations: typedef char *String_t; #define String_d char * String_t s1, s2; String_d s3, s4; ...
2016-02-22, 1525👍, 0💬

Why dont C comments nest?
Why don't C comments nest? How am I supposed to comment out code containing comments? Are comments legal inside quoted strings? A: C comments don't nest mostly because PL/I's comments, which C's are borrowed from, don't either. Therefore, it is usually better to ``comment out'' large sections of cod...
2015-01-30, 1525👍, 0💬

I heard that you have to include ......
I heard that you have to #include before calling printf. Why? So that a proper prototype for printf will be in scope. A compiler may use a different calling sequence for functions which accept variable-length argument lists. (It might do so if calls using variable-length argument lists were less eff...
2016-01-08, 1524👍, 0💬

Here is a neat trick for checking whether two strings are equal
Q: Here's a neat trick for checking whether two strings are equal: if(!strcmp(s1, s2)) Is this good style? It is not particularly good style, although it is a popular idiom. The test succeeds if the two strings are equal, but the use of ! (``not'') suggests that it tests for inequality. Another opti...
2015-05-15, 1519👍, 0💬

Why isnt any of this standardized in C? Any real program has to do some of these things.
Why isnt any of this standardized in C? Any real program has to do some of these things. Actually, some standardization has occurred along the way. In the beginning, C did not have a standard library at all; programmers always had to ``roll their own'' utility routines. After several abortive attemp...
2015-02-27, 1519👍, 0💬

How can I call system when parameters (filenames, etc.) of the executed command arent known until run time?
How can I call system when parameters (filenames, etc.) of the executed command arent known until run time? Just use sprintf (or perhaps strcpy and strcat) to build the command string in a buffer, then call system with that buffer. (Make sure the buffer is allocated with enough space; Here is a cont...
2015-03-18, 1517👍, 0💬

What is Hungarian Notation? Is it worthwhile?
What is Hungarian Notation? Is it worthwhile? Hungarian Notation is a naming convention, invented by Charles Simonyi, which encodes information about a variable's type (and perhaps its intended use) in its name. It is well-loved in some circles and roundly castigated in others. Its chief advantage i...
2015-05-08, 1516👍, 0💬

I need some code to do regular expression and wildcard matching.
I need some code to do regular expression and wildcard matching. Make sure you recognize the difference between: * Classic regular expressions, variants of which are used in such Unix utilities as ed and grep. In regular expressions, a dot . usually matches any single character, and the sequence .* ...
2015-08-12, 1514👍, 0💬

This program crashes before it even runs!
This program crashes before it even runs! (When single-stepping with a debugger, it dies before the first statement in main.) You probably have one or more very large (kilobyte or more) local arrays. Many systems have fixed-size stacks, and even those which perform dynamic stack allocation automatic...
2015-05-29, 1514👍, 0💬

How can I display a percentage-done indication that updates itself in place, or show one of those twirling baton progress indica
How can I display a percentage-done indication that updates itself in place, or show one of those twirling baton progress indicators? These simple things, at least, you can do fairly portably. Printing the character '\r' will usually give you a carriage return without a line feed, so that you can ov...
2015-04-27, 1514👍, 0💬

How can I call a function with an argument list built up at run time?
How can I call a function with an argument list built up at run time? There is no guaranteed or portable way to do this. Instead of an actual argument list, you might consider passing an array of generic (void *) pointers. The called function can then step through the array, much like main() might s...
2015-06-03, 1513👍, 0💬

Why cant I perform arithmetic on a void pointer?
Why cant I perform arithmetic on a void pointer? The compiler doesn't know the size of the pointed-to objects. (Remember that pointer arithmetic is always in terms of the pointed-to size; Therefore, arithmetic on void *'s is disallowed (though some compilers allow it as an extension). Before perform...
2015-12-07, 1512👍, 0💬

I have been replacing multiplications and divisions with shift operators, because shifting is more efficient.
I have been replacing multiplications and divisions with shift operators, because shifting is more efficient. This is an excellent example of a potentially risky and usually unnecessary optimization. Any compiler worthy of the name can replace a constant, power-of-two multiplication with a left shif...
2015-02-09, 1512👍, 0💬

How can f be used for both float and double arguments in printf? Aren't they different types?
How can f be used for both float and double arguments in printf? Aren't they different types? In the variable-length part of a variable-length argument list, the ``default argument promotions'' apply: types char and short int are promoted to int, and float is promoted to double. (These are the same ...
2015-06-17, 1510👍, 0💬

How can I write a function that takes a format string and a variable number of arguments
How can I write a function that takes a format string and a variable number of arguments, like printf, and passes them to printf to do most of the work? Use vprintf, vfprintf, or vsprintf. These routines are like their counterparts printf, fprintf, and sprintf, except that instead of a variable-leng...
2015-06-12, 1510👍, 0💬

Each time I run my program, I get the same sequence of numbers back from rand
Each time I run my program, I get the same sequence of numbers back from rand It's a characteristic of most pseudo-random number generators (and a defined property of the C library rand) that they always start with the same number and go through the same sequence. (Among other things, a bit of predi...
2015-07-29, 1509👍, 0💬

How can I suppress the dreaded MS-DOS Abort, Retry, Ignore? message?
How can I suppress the dreaded MS-DOS Abort, Retry, Ignore? message? Among other things, you need to intercept the DOS Critical Error Interrupt, interrupt 24H. See the comp.os.msdos.programmer
2015-04-06, 1509👍, 0💬

If the assignment operator were ...
If the assignment operator were :=, wouldn't it then be harder to accidentally write things like if(a = b) ? A: Yes, but it would also be just a little bit more cumbersome to type all of the assignment statements which a typical program contains. In any case, it's really too late to be worrying abou...
2015-01-26, 1508👍, 0💬

Should I use symbolic names like TRUE and FALSE for Boolean constants, or plain 1 and 0?
Should I use symbolic names like TRUE and FALSE for Boolean constants, or plain 1 and 0? It's your choice. Preprocessor macros like TRUE and FALSE (and, of course, NULL) are used for code readability, not because the underlying values might ever change. It's a matter of style, not correctness, wheth...
2015-05-11, 1507👍, 0💬

How can I sort a linked list?
How can I sort a linked list? Sometimes it's easier to keep the list in order as you build it (or perhaps to use a tree instead). Algorithms like insertion sort and merge sort lend themselves ideally to use with linked lists. If you want to use a standard library function, you can allocate a tempora...
2015-08-10, 1506👍, 0💬

How can I ensure that integer arithmetic doesnt overflow?
How can I ensure that integer arithmetic doesnt overflow? The usual approach is to test the operands against the limits in the header file &lt;limits.h> before doing the operation. For example, here is a ``careful'' addition function: int chkadd(int a, int b) { if(INT_MAX - b &lt; a) { fputs...
2015-03-04, 1505👍, 0💬

How do I read the arrow keys? What about function keys?
How do I read the arrow keys? What about function keys? Terminfo, some versions of termcap, and some versions of curses have support for these non-ASCII keys. Typically, a special key sends a multicharacter sequence (usually beginning with ESC, '\033'); parsing these can be tricky. (curses will do t...
2015-04-24, 1504👍, 0💬

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