Idiomatic C/C++: Avoiding Assignment Vs. Equality Errors
This is a bit of idiomatic c/c++, that is to say that this isn’t part of any standard, it is just “the way things are done” in c/c++. Ever made an error in a conditional using the assignment operator (=) instead of the equality operator (==)? I know I have, but not so much anymore. The trick is that when you are comparing a variable to a constant to put the constant first. This way if you mess up you will get a compiler error stating that you can’t assign to a constant. This is much preferable to a potentially subtle bug that will no doubt bite you when a deadline is looming. So instead of:
int x;
if( x == 5)
; //Do something
do:
int x;
if( 5 == x)
;//Do something
November 7th, 2007 at 2:06 am
brilliant.
November 29th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Yeah, I prefer this method, but my boss hates it because, fair enough, it does make your code less simple and readable.
December 5th, 2007 at 12:41 am
Indeed, this can make your code a little obtuse when you’re reading it. I find that even if I don’t do it this way remembering that I should makes me avoid the error anyway.