CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c
BAdhi
BAdhi

Reputation: 510

Resolving function name conflicts by using static

Say we have a library that defines the following internally used function skip_comments, that is used only by the translation unit it is defined in

void skip_comments(...)
{
}

void another_function()
{
    skip_comments(...) //calls the above function  --- (1)
}

Now this library is used by another process which also has a function with the same name skip_comments.

This will cause a function name conflict between the library function vs the function defined in the process. So at the point (1) I might expect it to call the process's function instead of the library function which clearly is a bug.

As a possible fix, I made the skip_comment function static and now the bug seems to be fixed. But I'm not sure if this is a proper fix

My question is, would defining the skip_comment as static ensure that at (1) such a name conflict will not occur? ie.

static void skip_comments(...)
{
}

void another_function()
{
    skip_comments(...) // will it always call the internal function?
}

Or the only solution is to make sure we define a unique name for functions such as adding prefixes?

Upvotes: 0

Views: 602

Answers (1)

Lundin
Lundin

Reputation: 214495

Declaring a function as static means that it will only be accessible by the translation unit where it is declared. (Translation unit meaning the .c file and all .h files included by that .c file.)

So yes, declaring it as static will solve your name conflicts. Given that you do this consistently everywhere and not just in one file.

However, it is good practice to prefix all identifiers based on the module where they belong, so that is perhaps the best solution regardless.

Upvotes: 2

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