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| From | BartC <bc@freeuk.com> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: To include or not to include |
| Date | 2016-09-23 12:17 +0100 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <ns3316$i3b$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | <ns2tkb$p0$1@dont-email.me> <ns310l$bj5$1@dont-email.me> |
On 23/09/2016 11:43, David Brown wrote: > On 23/09/16 11:45, James Harris wrote: >> I often have at the top of a C source file, which I'll call F, an >> include for its corresponding header: >> >> #include "F.h" >> >> After that come the various includes I need for the .c code that follows. >> >> In many cases the .c and the .h include some of the same files. They >> might both pull in stdio.h or string.h, for example. >> >> Of course, I could omit from F.c at least some of the headers which F.h >> includes. But I tend to take the approach of including in the .c all >> those the .c code needs. >> >> Assuming either approach is just as valid, which is the best style or is >> one more idiomatic than the other? >> >> >> As an aside, in F.c I include F.h so that the compiler can check that >> function definitions (in F.c) match function declarations (in F.h). So, >> if it's relevant, I guess I tend to use includes as a policy rather than >> as a mechanism for managing other includes. >> > > I prefer the following rules for includes: > > 1. F.c should include F.h, to make sure that function definitions in F.c > and function declarations in F.h match. > > 2. I make sure that any functions or file-level variables in F.c are > either defined "static" in F.c, or they are declared "extern" in F.h and > have matching definitions in F.c. > > 3. Header F.h should include all the headers it needs in order to be > complete. If G.c includes F.h, it should not have to include anything > else before or after it. So if F.h declares a function that takes a > uint32_t, then F.h must include stdint.h. My rules would be a little different (using example module A): * A.h should only contain declarations for A.c that will be exported to or shared with other modules * A.h should not contain any includes that are not needed for A.h itself. Only includes that are necessary for A.h to compile as a standalone file. (For example, including a header that contains macros and typedefs used by A.h's declarations) The rules might be bent a little when looking at a whole project: * If a project P comprises modules A, B and C, then I might instead construct a composite header P.h containing A.h, B.h and C.h. * Then each of A.c, B.c and C.c includes P.h * Any external includes (outside of A, B and C) that are used by some or all of A, B and C, can also be placed in P.h. Then each module need only be headed by a single, common include file. It can get more complicated if A and B, for example, need to include each other's headers; which one is included first in each module? It may be necessary to extract items from A.h and B.h that are put into a third header (eg. AB.h) that is included before either A.h or B.h (or placed before them in P.h). C allows more elaborate interdependencies still, so it's not possible to have rigid rules, only guidelines. -- Bartc
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To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-23 10:45 +0100
Re: To include or not to include David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-09-23 12:43 +0200
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-23 12:17 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-23 13:32 +0100
Re: To include or not to include David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-09-23 14:57 +0200
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-24 20:34 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-24 23:55 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 01:43 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2016-09-25 14:38 +1300
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-25 11:42 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 11:58 +0100
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-25 14:06 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 15:15 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2016-09-25 23:33 +0800
Re: To include or not to include Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2016-09-25 10:04 -0600
Re: To include or not to include Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2016-09-26 00:21 +0800
Re: To include or not to include "James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2016-09-25 13:17 -0400
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-26 00:18 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-26 17:55 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-26 20:07 +0100
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-26 12:13 -0700
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-27 01:25 +0100
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-26 18:05 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-27 14:27 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-27 14:49 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-27 15:15 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2016-09-27 07:42 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-09-27 09:30 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2016-09-27 10:06 -0700
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-27 08:12 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2016-09-28 10:46 -0700
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-27 17:55 +0100
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-27 10:19 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-09-27 11:42 -0700
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-27 19:57 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2016-09-27 12:38 -0700
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-27 21:00 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-28 01:50 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-28 10:55 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2016-09-27 13:33 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2016-09-28 19:13 +0000
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-27 12:38 -0700
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-27 20:57 +0100
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-27 07:25 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-28 00:28 +0100
Re: To include or not to include supercat@casperkitty.com - 2016-09-30 07:53 -0700
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-30 16:06 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-27 13:53 +0100
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-30 19:46 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-30 20:27 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2016-09-25 23:27 +0800
Re: To include or not to include Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2016-09-25 11:38 -0400
Re: To include or not to include Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2016-09-25 23:40 +0800
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 15:06 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2016-09-25 11:49 -0400
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 18:05 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2016-09-25 16:42 -0400
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 21:53 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Jerry Stuckle <jstucklex@attglobal.net> - 2016-09-25 17:57 -0400
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-25 21:20 +0100
Re: To include or not to include BartC <bc@freeuk.com> - 2016-09-25 21:49 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-26 00:40 +0100
Re: To include or not to include David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2016-09-23 14:56 +0200
Re: To include or not to include Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-09-23 13:31 +0100
Re: To include or not to include James Harris <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2016-09-23 13:52 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-09-23 14:35 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2016-09-23 18:55 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-09-23 20:33 +0100
Re: To include or not to include Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2016-09-23 08:22 -0600
Re: To include or not to include Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2016-09-23 11:37 -0400
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