Coding Style for local variables

[Thomas Monjalon]

10/06/2024 18:31, Konstantin Ananyev:
> Morten said:
> > The coding style guide says:
> > 
> > "Variables should be declared at the start of a block of code rather than in the middle. The exception to this is when the variable is
> > const in which case the declaration must be at the point of first use/assignment. Declaring variable inside a for loop is OK."
> > 
> > Since DPDK switched to C11, variables can be declared where they are used, which reduces the risk of using effectively uninitialized
> > variables. "Effectively uninitialized" means initialized to 0 or NULL where declared, to silence any compiler warnings about the use of
> > uninitialized variables.
> > 
> > Can we please agree to remove the recommendation/requirement to declare variables at the start of a block of code?
> 
> I know that modern C standards allow to define variable in the middle.
> But I am strongly opposed to allow that in DPDK coding style.
> Such practice makes code much harder to read and understand (at least for me).

Yes it is convenient to know that all variables are described
in a known place, just after function parameters.

There is also a consistency concern.

Old contributors like to be in a comfort zone,
	and we don't want to lose old contributors.
New contributors may be refrained by old rules,
	and we would like to get more new contributors.

So that's a tricky decision.