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Welcome to Software Development on Codidact!

Will you help us build our independent community of developers helping developers? We're small and trying to grow. We welcome questions about all aspects of software development, from design to code to QA and more. Got questions? Got answers? Got code you'd like someone to review? Please join us.

Posts by alx‭

20 posts
84%
+9 −0
Q&A memcmp(3) memory containing invalid values

What does it mean that we can use memcmp(3) on invalid values? ISO C allows comparing an invalid value through memcmp(3), because it doesn't read the value, but rather its representation, and "rea...

2 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by Lundin‭

83%
+8 −0
Q&A Is partial allocation of an object Undefined Behavior?

Is it valid to partly allocate an object, as long as you only use the allocated part of it? #include <stdio.h> #include <stdlib.h> struct s { int i[100]; }; int main(void) {...

1 answer  ·  posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by Lundin‭

81%
+7 −0
Q&A PGP sign emails sent with git-send-email(1)

How can we use git-send-email(1) to sign patches (emails) with the gpg(1) keyring? I've heard it can be done, but couldn't find anything in the git-send-email(1) documentation nor in a web search.

3 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 3d ago by alx‭

Question git email pgp signing
80%
+6 −0
Q&A array of arrays vs array of pointers to store array of string literals

Let's consider the following code: const char a[][4] = {"aa", "aaa"}; const char *b[] = {"bb", "bbb"}; const char *const c[] = {"cc", "ccc"}; For shared libraries, both b and c arrays require...

0 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 2y ago by alx‭

77%
+5 −0
Q&A noreturn function with non-void return type

Is it legal ISO C to declare a function as noreturn with a non-void return type (but of course not actually returning)? As far as I can read from the standard, it seems legal. Example: noreturn ...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 2y ago by alx‭

77%
+5 −0
Q&A Storing more bytes than a union member has, but less than the union size, with memcpy(3)

Let's say we have an object, we store it in a union (into some other narrower type, but with memcpy(3), so it's allowed --I guess--), and then read it from the union via it's original type (so no a...

2 answers  ·  posted 11mo ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 11mo ago by Lundin‭

77%
+5 −0
Q&A When should I parenthesize macro arguments in C?

I've seen macros use parentheses to enclose its arguments. Most of these make sense, as in #define sum(a, b) ((a) + (b)) The outer prevents the following: #define sum_bad(a, b) (a) + (b) ...

2 answers  ·  posted 6mo ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 5mo ago by Lundin‭

Question c macros
77%
+5 −0
Q&A Can freed pointers undergo lvalue conversion?

char *p, *q; p = malloc(1); free(p); q = p; // lvalue conversion Is the last lvalue conversion (= p;) Undefined Behavior or not? We didn't take the address of the local p. C11::6.3.2.1...

2 answers  ·  posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by Dirk Herrmann‭

77%
+5 −0
Code Reviews stpecpy(): Design a better string copy function that truncates

I was directed a few days ago to a post about a string copy function, which IMO improves the commonly known string copy functions, including strlcpy(3BSD), strlcat(3BSD), and strscpy(9). It define...

2 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by alx‭

71%
+3 −0
Q&A Is strcpy dangerous and what should be used instead?

strcpy(3) can be safe. Some compilers, such as GCC and Clang, use a feature test macro, _FORTIFY_SOURCE, (see feature_test_macros(7) https://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man7/feature_test_macros.7.htm...

posted 6mo ago by alx‭

Answer
71%
+3 −0
Q&A Strict aliasing rules and function boundaries

Let's analyze this code, assuming an architecture where the alignment of int64_t is the same as that of double: void bar(double *f, int64_t *j) { *(int64_t *)f = *j; } void foo(void) ...

1 answer  ·  posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 1y ago by Lundin‭

71%
+3 −0
Q&A Assert that some code is not present in the final binary, at compile or link time.

I'd like to assert that some code can be optimized out, and is not present in the final binary object. #define CONSTANT 0 #if (!CONSTANT) [[landmine_A]] #endif static int foo(void); void...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by alx‭

71%
+3 −0
Q&A How to write a macro that discards the const qualifier, for any type?

How to write a macro that discards the const qualifier, for any type? I hope some combination of typeof and a cast will do, but haven't found the combination. I tried this, without luck: #define...

2 answers  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 1y ago by alx‭

71%
+3 −0
Q&A Is `-isystem` a POSIX cc option?

Is -isystem/path/to/sys/includes a standard compiler option, or is it a compiler extension implemented by gcc, clang, and maybe other compilers? Can I rely on its availability? I couldn't find th...

1 answer  ·  posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  last activity 2y ago by deleted user

66%
+2 −0
Q&A How to write a macro that discards the const qualifier, for any type?

I developed this macro (using GNU C) similar to C++'s const_cast(). #define const_cast(t, p) \ ({ ...

posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 1y ago by alx‭

Answer
66%
+2 −0
Q&A Assert that some code is not present in the final binary, at compile or link time.

Calling an undefined function will have that behavior at link time: landmine.c: #ifndef CONSTANT #define CONSTANT 0 #endif #define assert_not_in_binary_if(e) do \ { \ if (e) \ undefi...

posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 2y ago by alx‭

Answer
66%
+2 −0
Q&A PGP sign emails sent with git-send-email(1)

It can't be done with git-send-email(1), but there's a tool that integrates with it, and is very simple to use: patatt(1). Install the tool: $ sudo apt-get install patatt And then for each rep...

posted 2y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 2y ago by alx‭

Answer
60%
+1 −0
Code Reviews stpecpy(): Design a better string copy function that truncates

After addressing @Lundin 's suggestions: Implemented in terms of libc functions for performance. const correctness style improvements I have a few more that I realized after trying to repla...

posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 1y ago by alx‭

Answer
50%
+2 −2
Q&A How to properly use malloc?

There are several things to consider when calling the malloc(3) family of functions: nelem * sizeof(elem) or sizeof(elem) * nelem? Use the type or the pointer name in sizeof()? To cast or not ...

posted 1y ago by alx‭  ·  edited 1y ago by alx‭

Answer
50%
+0 −0
Q&A PGP sign emails sent with git-send-email(1)

git-send-email(1) uses sendmail(8) as the MTA by default. However, this can be changed by passing the --sendmail-cmd option. $ man git-send-email | sed -n '/--sendmail-cmd=/,/^$/p' --sendma...

posted 3d ago by alx‭  ·  edited 3d ago by alx‭

Answer