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> Basically I always read in HN/lobsters/other forums that modern C is just as safe as newer languages This is absolutely false. Modern C++ might get close (al

> Basically I always read in HN/lobsters/other forums that modern C is just as safe as newer languages This is absolutely false. Modern C++ might get close (although I am not too familiar with it) but C has not gotten much safer over the years (one might argue it got even less safe due to threads being added in C11). As for learning about modern versions of C: you can read cppreference[0] which has fairly accurate information on the standard. Not much has been added over the years and C17 is merely a minor correction, so there has really only been 2 new versions since C99. [0]: https://en.cppreference.com/w/c.html https://en.cppreference.com/w/c.html

potato-peeler 1y ago
I specifically mentioned Misra standards for writing safe C. And ensuring thread safety is not just a C Lang pitfall. I was not looking for language reference rather how current software written in C ensure memory safety. How do their development paradigm look like? Teaching both the software pitfalls in C and how to mitigate them, maybe by giving examples from modern software or standards like Misra, will really help someone to understand how to write better C. Just linking a language reference does not help.
- atiedebee 1y ago
  I misunderstood the question then, since I thought it was about learning about the newer language features. C coding standards differ quite a lot, and unfortunately I can't point out any software that has standards developed for safety. As to still try and be helpful: I've enjoyed reading nullprograms blog[0] where he looks into interesting ways to make C more useable (although he tends to replace the entire standard library for reasons highlighted here[1]) There is some must avoid functions (mostly string functions) and a good list of them has been compiled in the git project repository[2]. I've tried looking up the misra C guidelines but they were hard to find or (if I remember correctly) had to be paid for or something like that [0] https://nullprogram.com https://nullprogram.com [1] https://nullprogram.com/blog/2023/02/11/ https://nullprogram.com/blog/2023/02/11/ [2] https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/banned.h https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/banned.h

potato-peeler 1y ago

I specifically mentioned Misra standards for writing safe C. And ensuring thread safety is not just a C Lang pitfall. I was not looking for language reference rather how current software written in C ensure memory safety. How do their development paradigm look like? Teaching both the software pitfalls in C and how to mitigate them, maybe by giving examples from modern software or standards like Misra, will really help someone to understand how to write better C. Just linking a language reference does not help.

atiedebee 1y ago
I misunderstood the question then, since I thought it was about learning about the newer language features. C coding standards differ quite a lot, and unfortunately I can't point out any software that has standards developed for safety. As to still try and be helpful: I've enjoyed reading nullprograms blog[0] where he looks into interesting ways to make C more useable (although he tends to replace the entire standard library for reasons highlighted here[1]) There is some must avoid functions (mostly string functions) and a good list of them has been compiled in the git project repository[2]. I've tried looking up the misra C guidelines but they were hard to find or (if I remember correctly) had to be paid for or something like that [0] https://nullprogram.com https://nullprogram.com [1] https://nullprogram.com/blog/2023/02/11/ https://nullprogram.com/blog/2023/02/11/ [2] https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/banned.h https://github.com/git/git/blob/master/banned.h