From 33937e78d756ee11e59911e2ed25a74f4b6abdec Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Florian Forster <octo@collectd.org>
Date: Sat, 20 Oct 2018 08:43:30 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] docs/review_comments.md: Add paragraph "Define variables on
 first use".

---
 docs/review_comments.md | 49 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------
 1 file changed, 39 insertions(+), 10 deletions(-)

diff --git a/docs/review_comments.md b/docs/review_comments.md
index bcb6fc0c..9bad458e 100644
--- a/docs/review_comments.md
+++ b/docs/review_comments.md
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ A link to each paragraph is provided at the beginning for easy copy'n'pasting.
 → [https://collectd.org/review-comments#initialize-variables](https://collectd.org/review-comments#initialize-variables)
 
 Initialize variables when declaring them. By default, C does not initialize
-variables when they are declared. If a code path ends up reading the variable
-before it is initialized, for example because a loop body is never
+local variables when they are defined. If a code path ends up reading the
+variable before it is initialized, for example because a loop body is never
 executed, it will read random data, causing undefined behavior. Worst case,
 pointers will point to random memory causing a segmentation fault.
 
@@ -47,21 +47,50 @@ compilers don't implement this correctly and will get confused when the first
 member is a struct or a union. Our *continuous integration* framework will
 catch these cases.
 
-In many cases, this means declaring variables later. For example, this *bad*
-example:
+## Define variables on first use
+
+→ [https://collectd.org/review-comments#define-variables-on-first-use](https://collectd.org/review-comments#define-variables-on-first-use)
+
+Local variables should be defined when they are first used, ideally when they
+can be initialized. For example:
 
 ```c
-int status; /* BAD */
+struct foo *f = calloc(1, sizeof(*f));
+if (f == NULL) {
+  return ENOMEM;
+}
+
+/* GOOD: status defiened and initialized late. */
+int status = function_call(f);
+```
 
-/* other code */
+Sometimes variables are initialized by passing a pointer to them to a function.
+In that case define them as close to the function call as you can and
+zero-initialize them. The function may only partially initialize a struct or
+not initialize a struct at all in some circumstances.
 
-status = function_call();
+**Example:**
+
+```c
+char const *path = determine_path();
+
+struct stat s = {0};
+int status = stat(path, &s);
 ```
 
-Would become:
+Old C standards (C89 and ealier) required variables to be defined at the
+beginning of a scope block. The following *bad* style is still frequently
+found:
 
 ```c
-/* other code */
+/* BAD: local variables defined at beginning of block. */
+struct foo *f;
+int status;
+
+f = calloc(1, sizeof(*f));
+if (f == NULL) {
+  return ENOMEM;
+}
 
-int status = function_call(); /* GOOD */
+status = function_call(f);
 ```
-- 
2.11.0