Parsing code without any kind of framework or high level helpers is, for lack of a better word, fiddly. C strings are an awful tool to do it because memory safe

Parsing code without any kind of framework or high level helpers is, for lack of a better word, fiddly. C strings are an awful tool to do it because memory safety depends on getting a lot of buffer size / string length calculations right - there are plenty of opportunities to make mistakes. The fiddliness also induces developers to make changes in existing code in the form of local clever tricks instead of adapting the code to cleanly implement new requirements. It's only a small change and the tests (hopefully there are any) pass, job done! But maybe it violates a non-obvious assumption for another clever trick somewhere else, etc...