Re: [GSoC][RFC][PATCH 1/2] STRBUF_INIT_CONST: a new way to initialize strbuf

From: Johannes Sixt <j6t@kdbg.org>
Date: Feb 19, 2020, 08:13 UTC
Message-ID: <467c035f-c7cd-01e1-e64c-2c915610de01@kdbg.org>
In-Reply-To: <20200218041805.10939-2-robear.selwans@outlook.com>

Am 18.02.20 um 05:18 schrieb Robear Selwans:

Show 18 quoted lines

> A new function `STRBUF_INIT_CONST(const_str)` was added to allow for a
> quick initialization of strbuf.
> 
> Details:
> Using `STRBUF_INIT_CONST(str)` creates a new struct of type `strbuf` and
> initializes its `buf`, `len` and `alloc` as `str`, `strlen(str)` and
> `0`, respectively.
> 
> Use Case:
> This is meant to be used to initialize strbufs with constant values and
> thus, only allocating memory when needed.
> 
> Usage Example:
> ```
> strbuf env_var = STRBUF_INIT_CONST("dev");
> ```
> 
> This was added according to the issue opened at [https://github.com/gitgitgadget/git/issues/398]

I am not a friend of this change at all. Why do so many functions and strbuf instances have to pay a price (check for immutable string) for a feature that they are not using?

As the macro is just intended for convenience, I suggest to implement it using strbuf_addstr() under the hood. That is much less code churn, and the price is paid only by the strbufs that actually use the feature.

-- Hannes