Recommended style

[Kelvin Moss]

Hi all,

Which is the recommended style in production code for the following -

....
fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (fp == NULL) {
....
}

OR
fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (!fp) {
....
}

Thanks.

[Bonj]

A benefit of including spaces is if you don't, then when you do Ctrl-left or
Ctrl-right to skip words, you skip about half a line if you haven't left
spaces. Although I admit I can never be bothered.

"Joona I Palaste" <pa*****@cc.hel sinki.fi> wrote in message
news:cr******** **@oravannahka. helsinki.fi...

Lawrence Kirby <lk****@netacti ve.co.uk> scribbled the following:

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 03:14:26 -0400, The Dragon wrote:

Alex wrote:
how about

if((fp=fopen(fi lename,"mode")) ==NULL)

That's a clear, concise C idiom, but please locate your space bar.

I realise I'm treading on religious issues here, but I have a strong
rule about spaces before the first opening paranthesis. "Strong" as in
"written in stone".
The rule consists of two parts:
1) If the statement starts with a keyword (such as "if", "for", "while"
etc.) then include *ONE* space.
2) If the statement starts with a function or macro name then include
*NO* spaces whatsoever.
This rule applies to both C and Java.

I am amazed how many people either break one of the above parts, or even
worse, switch them around.

--
/-- Joona Palaste (pa*****@cc.hel sinki.fi) ------------- Finland --------\
\-------------------------------------------------------- rules! --------/
"No, Maggie, not Aztec, Olmec! Ol-mec!"
- Lisa Simpson

[jjf]

Bonj wrote:

A benefit of including spaces is if you don't, then when you do
Ctrl-left or Ctrl-right to skip words, you skip about half a line
if you haven't left spaces. Although I admit I can never be bothered.

Just use w or b instead.

[Keith Thompson]

"Bonj" <[e-mail]> writes:

Neither:
fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (fp == NULL) {
...
}
is nearly right, but that's java style. Since your question is titled
'Recommended style', the correct style is
fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (fp == NULL)
{
...
}

is correct,

[...]

First, please don't top-post. Your response belongs after any quoted
text, not before it. See most of the articles in this newsgroup for
examples.

Your indentation is messed up in the second example, but I'll assume
that's a typo. If you're saying that

if (fp == NULL) {
...
}

is incorrect, but

if (fp == NULL)
{
...
}

is correct, I disagree. Both styles are popular (and both predate
Java). The former is used in K&R and in examples in the standard, and
is sometimes referred to as the One True Brace Style (and I personally
prefer it). If you prefer the latter, that's fine.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keit h) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Raymond Martineau]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:41:37 -0500, Martin Ambuhl <ma*****@earthl ink.net>
wrote:

Kelvin Moss wrote:

Hi all,

Which is the recommended style in production code for the following -

[...]
Anyone who tells you that either of these is "recommende d style" except
with reference to your local coding standards is blowing smoke.
That is correct.

For what it's worth, I prefer
if (!(fp = fopen("xyz.txt" ,"r"))) {
/* handle error */
}

One problem with this code - some compilers (specifically some old ones)
are a bit overzealous and might suggest that you should use "==" insteaed
of "=". It's possible to disalbe the warning, but they either require a
bit more typing or prevent you from immediatly detect another problem
caused by confusing the operators.

[Keith Thompson]

jj*@bcs.org.uk writes:

Bonj wrote:

A benefit of including spaces is if you don't, then when you do
Ctrl-left or Ctrl-right to skip words, you skip about half a line
if you haven't left spaces. Although I admit I can never be bothered.

Just use w or b instead.

Which, of course, depends on which text editor you use, which is
off-topic.

--
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keit h) ks***@mib.org <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center <*> <http://users.sdsc.edu/~kst>
We must do something. This is something. Therefore, we must do this.

[Martin Ambuhl]

Raymond Martineau wrote:

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 02:41:37 -0500, Martin Ambuhl <ma*****@earthl ink.net>
wrote:

Kelvin Moss wrote:

Hi all,

Which is the recommended style in production code for the following -

[...]

Anyone who tells you that either of these is "recommende d style" except
with reference to your local coding standards is blowing smoke.

That is correct.

For what it's worth, I prefer
if (!(fp = fopen("xyz.txt" ,"r"))) {
/* handle error */
}

One problem with this code - some compilers (specifically some old ones)
are a bit overzealous and might suggest that you should use "==" insteaed
of "=".

You might be right, but name one.
It's possible to disalbe the warning,
It should not be needed. The form of the statement is
if (!(p))
not
if (p)

When p is 'a = b',
if (a = b)
might trigger such a warning, but
if (!(a = b))
should never do so.
but they either require a
bit more typing or prevent you from immediatly detect another problem
caused by confusing the operators.

[jjf]

Bonj wrote:

Neither:
fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (fp == NULL) {
...
}
is nearly right, but that's java style.

Where do you get that idea from?

Since this brace style is preferred by the guy who invented C a
decade or two before Java was invented, and used in his seminal
book on the language, it's hard to see why it would be described
as "java style".

[Emmanuel Delahaye]

E. Robert Tisdale wrote on 30/12/04 :

I might write:

FILE* fp = fopen("xyz.txt" , "r");
if (NULL != fp) {
// read from xyz.txt
}
else { // (NULL == fp)
fprintf(stderr, "Couldn't open file xyz.txt!\n");
}

I prefer to deal with the normal, usual or expected condition first
and handle the error (exception) condition in the else part.

Agreed.

--
Emmanuel
The C-FAQ: http://www.eskimo.com/~scs/C-faq/faq.html
The C-library: http://www.dinkumware.com/refxc.html

"Clearly your code does not meet the original spec."
"You are sentenced to 30 lashes with a wet noodle."
-- Jerry Coffin in a.l.c.c++

[Chris Croughton]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 11:28:25 -0700, Alan Balmer
<al******@att.n et> wrote:

On 30 Dec 2004 18:00:21 GMT, Joona I Palaste <pa*****@cc.hel sinki.fi>
wrote:

I realise I'm treading on religious issues here, but I have a strong
rule about spaces before the first opening paranthesis. "Strong" as in
"written in stone".
The rule consists of two parts:
1) If the statement starts with a keyword (such as "if", "for", "while"
etc.) then include *ONE* space.
2) If the statement starts with a function or macro name then include
*NO* spaces whatsoever.
This rule applies to both C and Java.

I am amazed how many people either break one of the above parts, or even
worse, switch them around.

Why would you be surprised that someone would violate *your* rule? I
didn't even know about it until now. (And, to tell the truth, still
don't feel any particular obligation to conform to it.)

Actually, his 'rules' are the ones I use as well, but I've seen so many
coding styles that I'm not at all surprised at code which is differently
laid out. I've had to conform to a number of them in different jobs,
and each time my own coding style (as in code I write for myself) has
either been re-validated or has altered slightly. Thank gnu for indent
and other 'beautifiers'.. .

Chris C

[Chris Croughton]

On Thu, 30 Dec 2004 23:32:16 -0000, Bonj
<[e-mail]> wrote:

A benefit of including spaces is if you don't, then when you do Ctrl-left or
Ctrl-right to skip words,
.... nothing at al happens in the editor I use.
you skip about half a line if you haven't left
spaces. Although I admit I can never be bothered.

On the other hand, if I use W and B to skip to words delimited by spaces
I get the effect you describe (if I use w or b then it stops at non
alphanumeric characters).

Saying anything about what keys do what in an editor is even less
portable than specific implementations of C, because there are no
standards at all...

(Oh, and top-posting doesn't help either...)

Chris C