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Giving C a superpower: custom header file (safe_c.h)

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271 points mithcs | 1 comments | 17 Nov 25 10:40 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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khaledh ◴[17 Nov 25 13:25 UTC] No.45953354[source]▶
The problem with macro-laden C is that your code becomes foreign and opaque to others. You're building a new mini-language layer on top of the base language that only your codebase uses. This has been my experience with many large C projects: I see tons of macros used all over the place and I have no idea what they do unless I hunt down and understand each one of them.
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1. jnwatson ◴[17 Nov 25 15:12 UTC] No.45954270[source]▶
Like the Linux kernel?

Macros are simply a fact of life in any decent-sized C codebase. The Linux kernel has some good guidance to try to keep it from getting out of hand but it is just something you have to learn to deal with.