[vlc-devel] [DISCUSSION] To use or not to use EMPTY_STR?

[Rémi Denis-Courmont]

Le 2016-08-05 14:20, Filip Roséen a écrit :
> Hi guys and gals,
>
> #define EMPTY_STR(str) (!str || !*str)
>
> The above macro is defined in include/vlc_common.h, and it is used in
> several places throughout the codebase; though we have both old and
> new code that does not make use of the macro (in places where it
> could).

In many (but not all) sites, it is cargo cult. Either the string 
pointer cannot NULL, or the string cannot be empty.

>
>  	* What is our current position of such helper-macros?

I am not aware of a project-wide position.

The macro lacks expansion safety, in several ways. And its name is 
confusingly wrong: A NULL string pointer is not a string, and thus not 
an empty string. The distinction sometimes does matter.

Therefore, I dislike it and avoid it.

-- 
Rémi Denis-Courmont
http://www.remlab.net/