ANSI C prototypes

[Kari Hurtta]

In article <3933.27353319 at cc.helsinki.fi> jaakola at cc.helsinki.fi writes:

   It's okay for me to make an include file, where I declare functions that
   are visible to other modules. But consider the following example:

	   static void auxiliary_func(a) /* private helper-function */
	   int a;
	   {
		   ...
	   }

	   void visible_fun(b)
	   int b;
	   {
		   ...
		   auxiliary_func(b+1);   /* should be checked */
		   ...
	   }

   The point is, why should I have to tell the compiler twice the type of
   auxiliary_func? The prototype should be necessary only if I make a
   forward reference to make it easier for the compiler to check types in a
   single pass. I think the function definition tells unambiguously the
   types, so I should not have to watch warnings such as "function
   definition used as a prototype" (Microsoft C 5.1).

   Ok, I could turn off such warnings in Microsoft C 5.1, but this turns
   off some useful checks as a side-effect! Please, Microsoft, make a
   "prototypes-off" switch into Microsoft C for me!

Why not:
	   static void auxiliary_func(int a)
	   {
		   ...
	   }

	   void visible_fun(int b)
	   {
		   ...
		   auxiliary_func(b+1);  
		   ...
	   }

- K E H
( hurtta at cc.Helsinki.FI
  hurtta at cs.Helsinki.FI
  HURTTA at FINUH.BITNET
)