Re: [PATCH v6 3/3] bisect--helper: `write_terms` shell function in C

From: Johannes Schindelin <johannes.schindelin@gmx.de>
Date: May 23, 2016, 11:07 UTC
Message-ID: <alpine.DEB.2.20.1605231301560.4122@virtualbox>
In-Reply-To: <CAFZEwPNkPZ6JnzqbTyhYMwEF-hor2rm39NcB84omrh+uCiVPNw@mail.gmail.com>

Hi Pranit,

On Fri, 20 May 2016, Pranit Bauva wrote:

> Frankly, I have no idea what you mean by libification but I will use
> error() since efforts for libification have already started.

The term "libification" is frequently used in the Git project: it means to convert code that was formerly used in a standalone program to make it usable as a library function.

The main differences:

- in the standalone program, you can get away with calling die() when
  anything goes wrong. Not so in a library function: you need to give the
  caller a chance to fail gracefully, or even to continue.

- in a standalone program, you can be sloppy and "let exit() clean up",
  i.e. omit free() calls or even close() calls. In library functions, this
  is not possible.

- in a standalone program, you may mess with the stdio handles. This is
  an absolute no-go in library functions.

There are other differences, of course. The gist is that you have to be a lot more careful for library functions.

Ciao, Johannes