Ask HN: Learning C

Re:Ask HN: Learning C by rthomas6 on Sunday April 26, 2009 @11:40PM (#580787)

They use the strange names that they do because a function declared in C is declared everywhere in the whole program. They use strange names to try to stay out of your way; i. e. it would be really bad if two functions had the same name.

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Re:Ask HN: Learning C by Daniel_Newby on Monday April 27, 2009 @04:27AM (#581055)

You're right that C's lack of namespaces makes for funky names. However, note that "static" functions are visible only within their compilation unit, which can bring some order to the madness.

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Re:Ask HN: Learning C by baguasquirrel on Monday April 27, 2009 @03:05PM (#581883)

Yes, exactly. And yet people continued to use the unhelpful, oblique prefixes and suffixes they used for global symbols nonetheless.

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