Xref: utzoo comp.std.c:401 comp.lang.c:12882
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!spdcc!ima!haddock!karl
From: karl@haddock.ima.isc.com (Karl Heuer)
Newsgroups: comp.std.c,comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: C function prototyping and large projects
Message-ID: <8032@haddock.ima.isc.com>
Date: 23 Sep 88 19:09:41 GMT
References: <24@motto.UUCP> <3511@boulder.Colorado.EDU> <1281@micomvax.UUCP> <432@thirdi.UUCP>
Reply-To: karl@haddock.ima.isc.com (Karl Heuer)
Organization: Interactive Systems, Boston
Lines: 19

In article <432@thirdi.UUCP> peter@thirdi.UUCP (Peter Rowell) writes:
>In article <1281@micomvax.UUCP> ray@micomvax.UUCP (Ray Dunn) writes:
>>[Generate the prototypes automatically the first time,] then maintain the
>>information manually as you would for any other global information.
>             ^^^^^^^^
>My experience shows that manual maintenance of this type of information,
>if done incorrectly, can lead to [hard-to-find bugs].

The compiler should catch them, if the header which contains the prototype is
also included in the module that defines the function itself.

>Our solution ...  During intense development cycles there can be quite a bit
>of unnecessary reebuilds/recompiles, so we kill the dependencies and depend
>on programmer knowledge of probable side effects.

My experience shows that manual maintenance of this type of information,
if done incorrectly, can lead to hard-to-find bugs.  :-)

Karl W. Z. Heuer (ima!haddock!karl or karl@haddock.isc.com), The Walking Lint