Re: [PATCH 10/21] Free mktag's buffer before dying

From: Johan Herland <johan@herland.net>
Date: Jun 9, 2007, 22:05 UTC
Message-ID: <200706100005.11710.johan@herland.net>
In-Reply-To: <81b0412b0706091500o2c0a8f88xd3808d6ee790d777@mail.gmail.com>

On Sunday 10 June 2007, Alex Riesen wrote:

Show 15 quoted lines

> On 6/9/07, Johan Herland <johan@herland.net> wrote:
> > On Saturday 09 June 2007, Alex Riesen wrote:
> > > On 6/9/07, Johan Herland <johan@herland.net> wrote:
> > > > +       if (parse_and_verify_tag_buffer(0, buffer, size, 1)) {
> > > > +               free(buffer);
> > > > +               die("invalid tag data file");
> > >
> > > This, and the similar one below are useless. You're destroying the
> > > process, what do you free that buffer for? Either handle the error
> > > case or do not needlessly complicate your change, which really
> > > also absolutely unneeded.
> >
> > Well, I was taught to treat my memory with care.
> 
> How do you treat your performance?

Hopefully with care, as well. However, I tend to look at performance _after_ correctness.

> Besides, was that systems with common address space
> where you were taught? Like DOS or MacOS, perhaps?

Nope. Never programmed on either. I thought care with memory was generally considered a good principle. If I'm wrong, please point me at the relevant documentation.

Show 7 quoted lines

> > Right now it doesn't make any difference in practice (except that
> > Valgrind might be a bit happier with it), but in the future -- with
> > the libifaction effort and whatnot -- you never know what might happen
> > to this piece of code, and I'd like to stay on the safe side.
> 
> So that people have to check your free as well (they will have to,
> they come looking for die-calls). You just made more work for them.

Ok. Drop it. This isn't particularily important to me. I just try to follow good principles when I can.

...Johan

-- 
Johan Herland, <johan@herland.net>
www.herland.net