C++ Style Question

[Anna Jayne Metcalfe]

I avoid multiple pointer declarations on the same line as I always initialise them (never leave them dangling):

int* p1 = NULL;
int* p2 = NULL;

Anna :rose: Having a bad bug day? Tech Blog | Anna's Place | Tears and Laughter "If mushy peas are the food of the devil, the stotty cake is the frisbee of God"

[Stuart Dootson]

I prefer the first one's aesthetics - but it can hide the way C type-decls are actually decoded, and as Nish said, the multiple item declaration thing is an issue. The other alternative, of course, is to encapsulate the pointer-ness in a typedef:

typedef CType* CTypePtr;
CTypePtr Pointer = NULL;

Helps especially with function pointers - which is easier to understand:

int (*myFn)(double, int);

or

typedef int (*MyFnPtr)(double, int);

MyFnPtr myFn;

? I guess some amount of the SPARK Ada development I've done (SPARK doesn't allow anonymous type defs) has rubbed off on me. Who'da thunk it...

Java, Basic, who cares - it's all a bunch of tree-hugging hippy cr*p

[Lost User]

Same here.

Visit http://www.notreadytogiveup.com/[^] and do something special today.

[Lost User]

It belongs next to the type name because it contributes to the type specification.

[Jonas Hammarberg]

Alternative 1, with a slight twitch

CType* Pointer(0);

rgds *I don't do multiple variable declarations*/Jonas

[Niall Joubert]

Depends on where you want the emphasis to be. Personally, I prefer the

CType* Pointer

It reads more clearly that the variable Pointer is of "pointer type." It does mean though that it is difficult to declare multiple variables on a single line, but frankly, I think it is better style to only declare a single variable per line. The typedef mentioned in a previous post is very neat. I've used this a few times, it's even better at showing the "pointer type." If you can, prefer this.

[hairy_hats]

Likewise.

[dazfuller]

Personally I prefer the first option: int* a It doesn't look like I'm trying to dereference an existing variable that way and I think it makes it easier to read. Also I avoid writing multiple definitions on the same line, again it makes it easier to read in my opinion and it means that I don't have to change my coding style for pointer declaration.

[Steve Thresher]

Wrong! It's a modifier for the variable like const. which is why you put it with the variable, not the data type.

[Brady Kelly]

C/C++ was my first introduction to programming years after some dabbling in Sinclair Basic. This was before Google, and even before ready access, for me, to forums etc. and for a long time, I thought there was a difference.

You really gotta try harder to keep up with everyone that's not on the short bus with you. - John Simmons / outlaw programmer.

[fboule]

I couldn't have explained it better. I like to consider the asterisk as a modifier to the type. It does actually belong neither to the type, nor to the variable. Its name is ptr and not *ptr. Another example is:

int i = 123;
int &j = i;

It becomes even more unclear if you consider &j as the variable name. Eventually, an alternate way to consider it is with parenthesis:

CType (*ptr), nonPtr;

[CannibalSmith]

int* p1,* p2;

[Gary Wheeler]

The second, since the '*' associates with the variable name, not the type.

Software Zen: delete this;

[Bob1000]

If I see the first I know who wrote the code lives by the axiom 'why make things clear when they can be difficult’ :)

[etkid84]

i would follow the czar of c++. you might want to consider keeping one style/idiom for programming in c, and follow dr. stroustrup's examples for c++. kind regards,

David

[VEMS]

Agree

[Lost User]

I always thought

CType *Pointer

made more sense, since

*Pointer

is actually a CType variable, you're just giving it a weird name that involves a pointer. But this is just a noobie making his first post :P

[User 4595697]

Just use c# instead

[uzziah0]

Since I mostly work with existing code, I try to stay with the style already in the existing code; unless there is something really bad or goofy. I would follow what others have already done in the existing code. Most of the work I do has informal standards, where you only put one variable declaration on a single line. By practice (meaning there is no standard) we out the * on the variable:

int *some = NULL;
int *other = NULL;

[jasmin_m]

It has more style :) Type* pointer=NULL;