string_t.h

A code snippet for C strings with length

SYNOPSIS

#include "string_t.h"

DESCRIPTION

The "string_t.h" header shall define string_t.

string_t

struct string_t {
    size_t  cap;
    size_t  len;
    char   *str;
};

EXAMPLES

Copying and freeing a string_t

const char *cs;
struct string_t *s;

cs = foo();
s = (struct string_t *)malloc(sizeof string_t);
s->len = s->cap = strlen(cs) + 1;
s->str = strdup(cs);
free(s->str);
free(s);

Questions

• Can you make string_t compatible with std::string long string mode?
• Would it be preferrable to expose C wrappers to std::string if one is going to use the same underlying struct layout?

Further reading

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/String_(computer_science)#Length-prefixed
[2]: http://www.catb.org/esr/structure-packing/
[3]: https://joellaity.com/2020/01/31/string.html
[4]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21694302/what-are-the-mechanics-of-short-string-optimization-in-libc
[5]: https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9699919799/basedefs/string.h.html

License

GNU General Public License v2.0