lkml.org 
[lkml]   [2008]   [Jan]   [24]   [last100]   RSS Feed
Views: [wrap][no wrap]   [headers]  [forward] 
 
Messages in this thread
/
From
SubjectRe: [PATCH 5/9] bfs: move function prototype to the proper header file
Date
On Jan 24, 2008, at 18:13, Dmitri Vorobiev wrote:
> Heikki Orsila пишет:
>> On Fri, Jan 25, 2008 at 01:32:04AM +0300, Dmitri Vorobiev wrote:
>>> +/* inode.c */
>>> +extern void dump_imap(const char *, struct super_block *);
>>> +
>>
>> Functions should not be externed, remove extern keyword.
>
> Care to explain why?
>
> Following is an explanation why the contrary is probably true:
>
> 1) We have lots of precedents in existing code:
>
> dmvo@cipher:~/Projects/misc/linux$ git-grep 'extern void' include |
> wc -l
> 5523
> dmvo@cipher:~/Projects/misc/linux$


The "extern" keyword on functions is *completely* redundant.

For C variables:
Declaration: extern int foo;
Definition: int foo;
File-scoped: static int foo;

For C functions:
Declaration: void foo(int x);
Definition: void foo(int x) { /*...body...*/ }
File-scoped: static void foo(int x) { /*...body...*/ }

The compiler will *allow* you to use "extern" on the function
prototype, but the presence or absence of a function body is
sufficiently obvious for it to determine whether the prototype is a
declaration or a definition that the "extern" keyword is not required
and therefore redundant.

For maximum readability and cleanliness I recommend that you leave off
the "extern" on the function declarations; it makes the lines much
longer without obvious gain.

Cheers,
Kyle Moffett


--
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org
More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/

\
 
 \ /
  Last update: 2008-01-25 02:59    [W:0.170 / U:0.400 seconds]
©2003-2020 Jasper Spaans|hosted at Digital Ocean and TransIP|Read the blog|Advertise on this site