Listmates, First post, and more of a curiosity than a problem. Years ago I worked extensively with c, fortran, etc. (late '80s, early 90s). I do my own office infrastructure/networking/groupware, etc. all with linux and open source software. Occasionally that requires me to dust off my programming tools to tweak this or that to work in my setting. Most recently a bit of c with the mysql connector. In doing so I have noticed one big change to the way source files are now formatted.
When I grew up doing this your source files and functions would normally be laid out in this order: #include <headerfile.h> void function (); // function headers defs int *function (); int main () { do something; return 0; } void function () { stuff; } int *function () { stuff; } Now I see through much of the glibc documentation and other sources a layout like this: #include <headerfile.h> void function () { stuff; } int * function () { stuff; } int main () { do something; return 0; } And, yes, I know it doesn't matter to the compiler, but as I said I was curious. Has there been some type of recommended standard for doing it in this way, or is it just more of a some people like chocolate ice cream versus vanilla issue? In the olden days, IIRC, the logic was that you wanted to see the most important part of your code up top -- the main function, without having to wade through all the function bodies before you got to it. With the new layout, you don't have to worry about an additional function def up top with eliminates the chance of typos and makes changes easier. So I see the benefits of both. Also, if this is some type of flame war issue like vi/emacs, I apologize in advance, I am not aware of its sensitivity, I'm just curious and like to follow the "recommended" standard in case somebody has to read my code in the future. Thanks. All I'm looking for is either a (yep there was a new recommendation, here's the link) or a (it's a chocolate or vanilla thing). -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. Rankin Law Firm, PLLC 510 Ochiltree Street Nacogdoches, Texas 75961 Telephone: (936) 715-9333 Facsimile: (936) 715-9339 www.rankinlawfirm.com