Re: Nit pick -- where to stick the * in a C/C++ definition

[Ben Kovitz <ben-kovitz -at- vertel -dot- com>]

Guy Haas wrote:

>I am documenting an API in C++.  I need to decide on a 
>standard representation for pointer definitions. 
>C and C++ themselves don't care whether I say:
>
>   int * foo             //centered
>   int* foo              //closed left
>or int *foo              //closed right

Bjarne Stroustrup, inventor of C++, says that the closed left format is
truest to the spirit of C++.  See:

http://www.research.att.com/~bs/bs_faq2.html#whitespace

He observes that C programmers tend to prefer the closed right format, but
the closed left format gives the proper emphasis to someone who is thinking
the way you're supposed to think as a C++ programmer.  This is not easy to
explain; it's one of those things that you can only grok through a lot of
experience with the language, but then it's unmistakable.

--
Ben Kovitz
Author, Practical Software Requirements: A Manual of Content & Style
http://www.browsebooks.com/Kovitz/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1884777597


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