Re: Inline functions and locals

From	Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c++
Subject	Re: Inline functions and locals
Date	2022-01-17 09:50 +0000
Organization	Aioe.org NNTP Server
Message-ID	<ss3e61$908$1@gioia.aioe.org> (permalink)
References	(1 earlier) <srqkvk$3vi$1@dont-email.me> <srrmd6$1bo0$1@gioia.aioe.org> <srs97q$qov$1@dont-email.me> <ss2vdc$eo5$1@gioia.aioe.org> <ss34s6$53h$1@dont-email.me>

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David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
> Yes, "inline" functions in C are a bit odd, and the semantics are not
> the same as in C++.  As you say, the most common usage (and the only way
> I use it) is to write "static inline" for functions to replace what
> might pre-C99 have been a function-like macro.  The "inline" here is not
> actually very significant - any decent C compiler will make its own
> decisions about actual inlining optimisations, so a plain "static"
> function would have the same effect.  To me, at least, the "static
> inline" is a documentation of how you see the function and expect it to
> be used.

The difference between a 'static' (or 'static inline') function and a
(non-static) 'inline' function is that in the former case the function
gets instantiated as many times as there are compilation units that
call it (or in every compilation unit that includes the header, regardless
of whether anything calls it or not, as some more primitive C compilers
do. Yes, they exist.) In the latter case the function is instantiated
in the executable binary only once, just like in C++ (but in C you have
to explicitly tell *where* it's instantiated, while in C++ it's
automatic.)

Since as far as I remember you cannot have 'static' variables inside
an 'inline' function (unlike in C++), the only possible situation that
I can think of where you have to make an 'inline' function non-static
is if the function needs to have a unique pointer (eg. if you for
some reason need to compare function pointers). Or if you need to
squeeze even the last bits out of the executable binary size and do
not want the function to be duplicated.

Sometimes you can get away with using (non-static) 'inline' without
specifying where the function should be instantiated (if the compiler
never generates an actual function call), but I think that's
non-standard behavior.

Thread

Inline functions and locals Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-01-12 16:34 +0000
  Re: Inline functions and locals Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-01-12 17:38 +0100
  Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-12 12:47 -0500
  Re: Inline functions and locals Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-01-13 07:00 +0000
    Re: Inline functions and locals "Alf P. Steinbach" <alf.p.steinbach@gmail.com> - 2022-01-13 10:45 +0100
      Re: Inline functions and locals Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-01-17 12:55 +0000
        Re: Inline functions and locals David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-17 15:14 +0100
        Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-17 10:24 -0800
          Re: Inline functions and locals David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-17 19:46 +0100
    Re: Inline functions and locals Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-01-13 11:08 +0100
      Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-13 19:30 -0800
  Re: Inline functions and locals Paavo Helde <eesnimi@osa.pri.ee> - 2022-01-13 12:46 +0200
    Re: Inline functions and locals Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-01-13 15:38 +0000
  Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-13 17:51 -0800
    Re: Inline functions and locals Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-01-14 11:22 +0000
      Re: Inline functions and locals Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2022-01-14 04:02 -0800
        Re: Inline functions and locals Manfred <invalid@invalid.add> - 2022-01-14 17:30 +0100
          Re: Inline functions and locals Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-01-14 16:49 +0000
        Re: Inline functions and locals Muttley@dastardlyhq.com - 2022-01-14 16:40 +0000
          Re: Inline functions and locals Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2022-01-14 11:28 -0800
          Re: Inline functions and locals "Alf P. Steinbach" <alf.p.steinbach@gmail.com> - 2022-01-14 20:29 +0100
      Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-14 08:34 -0500
        Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-14 11:26 -0500
          Re: Inline functions and locals David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-14 18:47 +0100
      Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-14 08:43 -0800
        Re: Inline functions and locals Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-01-17 05:38 +0000
          Re: Inline functions and locals David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-17 08:12 +0100
            Re: Inline functions and locals "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-01-16 23:51 -0800
              Re: Inline functions and locals "Chris M. Thomasson" <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> - 2022-01-16 23:55 -0800
              Re: Inline functions and locals David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2022-01-17 11:35 +0100
            Re: Inline functions and locals Juha Nieminen <nospam@thanks.invalid> - 2022-01-17 09:50 +0000
              Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-17 14:39 -0500
                Re: Inline functions and locals Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-01-17 15:34 -0800
                Re: Inline functions and locals "james...@alumni.caltech.edu" <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-17 15:50 -0800
                Re: Inline functions and locals Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-04-25 03:42 -0700
                Re: Inline functions and locals "james...@alumni.caltech.edu" <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-04-25 08:48 -0700
          Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-16 23:53 -0800
            Re: Inline functions and locals Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2022-01-17 15:29 -0800
    Re: Inline functions and locals Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-01-17 12:40 +0100
      Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-17 10:13 -0800
        Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-17 16:15 -0500
          Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-17 16:28 -0800
            Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-17 22:55 -0500
              Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-18 11:32 -0800
                Re: Inline functions and locals James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2022-01-18 19:03 -0500
                Re: Inline functions and locals Andrey Tarasevich <andreytarasevich@hotmail.com> - 2022-01-18 17:22 -0800
        Re: Inline functions and locals Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2022-01-18 09:20 +0100

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