Top Ten, 13 of 10

When we last left our hero, we were looking at ten ways to get screwed by the "C" programming language. Today's entry is Cluttered compile time environment.

The actual complaint is that the standard header files declare symbols that a programmer might accidently use. The example was a programmer declaring BUFFSIZE, but then accidently using BUFSIZ, which is declared in stdio.h. The programmer might accidently use BUFSIZ if the programmer is used to typing it. I'd argue that the programmer has used a BUFSIZ like symbol because stdio introduced the idea.

I've seen worse. A long time ago, i saw a library that declared the external variable line. Naturally, it was a library where the caller might use such a common word as a variable. And, it happened.

There are conventions that C library writers use to prevent this sort of thing. For example, using a common prefix for all library functions and global variables helps. While it helps, it can't make a guarantee that this problem won't come up. C is not object oriented. There is no way for C to encapsulate symbols into a module. The potential for incursion is real. Library writers must do the best they can.

I wouldn't go so far as to state that adding object oriented scoping rules would fix C. I am not of the opinion that Java's effectively infinite sized object names is a good solution to this problem. As a matter of fact, i like C's relative terseness.

Fortran allows one to simply use a variable, and the compiler will allocate space for it. This leads to the problem that a typographical error introduces a new variable when you intended to assign to an existing variable. These problems are, indeed, hard to find. I can recall scanning symbol tables for such errors.

C requires that variables be declared before they are used. Therefore, this problem that Fortran enjoyed is gone. And, indeed, the C preprocessor requires that symbols be defined before use as well. However, no warning is given. The symbol you wanted replaced is just not replaced. Generally, this leads to a compilation or link error.