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Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards

From Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards
Date 2020-02-24 14:52 -0500
Organization The Pitcher Digital Freehold
Message-ID <r319i3$mlt$1@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References <20200224220814.34562e1774fd4d2c65f171a0@gmail.com>

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Anton Shepelev wrote:

> Hello all,
> 
> A reviewer has recently declared it a fault in my library
> that its .h file does not use an include guard, whereas I
> deliberately decided not to use one, because the library
> exports only functions, but no types.  Its header file is
> therefore designed for inclusion into .c files, but not into
> other .h files.
> 
> What is your opinion?  Is it good practice to wrap each and
> every header file in an include guard?

The term "good practice" is fairly nebulous as it means different things to 
different people. I try to stay away from terms like "good practice" unless 
I have an agreement with my audience about what it means /this time/.

Having said that, I do not think it is /necessary/ to "wrap each and every 
header file in an include guard"; doing so is a short-cut to ensure that the 
header has no harmful side-effects if #include'd more than once.

If I can assert with confidence that a header will cause no detremental 
side-effects if #include'd more than once, I see no need to add a header 
guard. However, if I have any uncertainty, then I add a header guard; it 
costs next to nothing, reduces my extra work (to prove no side-effects), and 
reduces the chances that my wrong evaluation would cause errors down the 
line.

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Thread

Concerning the necessity of include guards Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 22:08 +0300
  Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 20:28 +0100
  Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2020-02-24 19:40 +0000
    Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-24 22:37 +0100
      Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@g{oogle}mail.com> - 2020-02-25 14:13 +0300
        Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 13:03 +0100
          Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.com> - 2020-02-29 01:14 +0300
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-28 22:36 +0000
              Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Anton Shepelev <anton.txt@gmail.com> - 2020-02-29 13:28 +0300
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-02-29 00:08 +0000
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2020-02-29 07:05 -0500
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-03-01 15:01 +0100
  Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2020-02-24 14:52 -0500
    Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 21:19 +0100
      Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2020-02-24 15:48 -0500
        Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 21:53 +0100
          Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2020-02-24 17:26 -0500
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 00:08 +0100
              Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 15:24 -0800
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2020-02-24 22:20 -0800
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 09:52 +0100
            Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 08:12 +0100
              Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 09:55 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 10:35 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 13:13 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 13:50 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 18:33 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 18:38 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 18:42 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-25 18:46 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bart <bc@freeuk.com> - 2020-02-25 19:35 +0000
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 21:18 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Bonita Montero <Bonita.Montero@gmail.com> - 2020-02-26 06:40 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-25 12:12 -0800
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2020-02-25 11:55 -0800
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2020-02-25 21:37 +0100
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2020-02-26 02:39 +0000
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Real Troll <real.troll@trolls.com> - 2020-02-25 23:10 -0400
                Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards chad <cdalten@gmail.com> - 2020-02-27 05:39 -0800
  Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2020-02-24 22:23 +0000
  Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2020-02-24 21:17 -0800
    Re: Concerning the necessity of include guards Guillaume <message@bottle.org> - 2020-02-25 13:03 +0100

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