=head2 Memory Management and String Handling
- Instead Of: Use:
-
- t* p = malloc(n) New(id, p, n, t)
- t* p = calloc(n, s) Newz(id, p, n, t)
- p = realloc(p, n) Renew(p, n, t)
- memcpy(dst, src, n) Copy(src, dst, n, t)
- memmove(dst, src, n) Move(src, dst, n, t)
- memcpy/*(struct foo *) StructCopy(src, dst, t)
- free(p) Safefree(p)
+ Instead Of: Use:
+
+ t* p = malloc(n) Newx(id, p, n, t)
+ t* p = calloc(n, s) Newxz(id, p, n, t)
+ p = realloc(p, n) Renew(p, n, t)
+ memcpy(dst, src, n) Copy(src, dst, n, t)
+ memmove(dst, src, n) Move(src, dst, n, t)
+ memcpy(dst, src, sizeof(t)) StructCopy(src, dst, t)
+ memset(dst, 0, n * sizeof(t)) Zero(dst, n, t)
+ memzero(dst, 0) Zero(dst, n, char)
+ free(p) Safefree(p)
strdup(p) savepv(p)
strndup(p, n) savepvn(p, n) (Hey, strndup doesn't exist!)
strncat(dt, src) sv_catpvn(sv, s)
sprintf(s, fmt, ...) sv_setpvf(sv, fmt, ...)
-Note also the existence of C<sv_catpvf> and C<sv_catpvfn>, combining
+Note also the existence of C<sv_catpvf> and C<sv_vcatpvfn>, combining
concatenation with formatting.
+Sometimes instead of zeroing the allocated heap by using Newxz() you
+should consider "poisoning" the data. This means writing a bit
+pattern into it that should be illegal as pointers (and floating point
+numbers), and also hopefully surprising enough as integers, so that
+any code attempting to use the data without forethought will break
+sooner rather than later. Poisoning can be done using the Poison()
+macros, which have similar arguments as Zero():
+
+ PoisonWith(dst, n, t, b) scribble memory with byte b
+ PoisonNew(dst, n, t) equal to PoisonWith(dst, n, t, 0xAB)
+ PoisonFree(dst, n, t) equal to PoisonWith(dst, n, t, 0xEF)
+ Poison(dst, n, t) equal to PoisonFree(dst, n, t)
+
=head2 Character Class Tests
There are two types of character class tests that Perl implements: one
atof(s) Atof(s)
atol(s) Atol(s)
- strtod(s, *p) Nothing. Just don't use it.
- strtol(s, *p, n) Strtol(s, *p, n)
- strtoul(s, *p, n) Strtoul(s, *p, n)
+ strtod(s, &p) Nothing. Just don't use it.
+ strtol(s, &p, n) Strtol(s, &p, n)
+ strtoul(s, &p, n) Strtoul(s, &p, n)
-Notice also the C<scan_bin>, C<scan_hex>, and C<scan_oct> functions in
+Notice also the C<grok_bin>, C<grok_hex>, and C<grok_oct> functions in
F<numeric.c> for converting strings representing numbers in the respective
bases into C<NV>s.