Agfdhyk

I'm a beginner into Linking, sorry if my questions are too basic. lets say I have two .c files

file1.c is

int main(int argc, char *argv) 

{

    int a = function2();

    return 0;

}

file2.c is

int function2() 

{ 

    return 2018;

}

I know the norm is, create a file2.h and include it in file1.c, and I have some questions:

Q1. #include in file1.c doesn't make too much difference or improve much to me, I can still compile file1.c without file2.h correctly, the compiler will just warn me 'implicit declaration of function 'function2', but does this warning help a lot? Programmers might know that function2 is defined in other .c file(if you use function2 but don't define it, you certainly know the definition is somewhere else) and linker will do its job to produce the final executable file? so the only purpose of include file2,c to me is, don't show any warning during compilation, is my understanding correct.

Q2. Image this scenario, a programmer define function2 in file1.c, he doesn't know that his function2 in conflict with the one in file2.c until the linker throws the error(obvious he can compile his file1.c alone correctly. But if we want him to know his mistake when he compiles his file1.c, adding file2.h still don't help, so what's the purpose of adding header file?

Q3. What should we add to let the programmer know he should choose a different name for function2 rather then be informed the error by linker in the final stage.

Per C89 3.3.2.2 Function calls emphasis mine:

If the expression that precedes the parenthesized argument list in a function call consists solely of an identifier, and if no declaration is visible for this identifier, the identifier is implicitly declared exactly as if, in the innermost block containing the function call, the declaration

    extern int  identifier();

appeared

Now, remember, empty parameter list (declared with nothing inside the () braces) declares a function that takes unspecified type and number of arguments. Type void inside braces to declare that a function takes no arguments, like int func(void).

Q1:

does this warning help a lot?

Yes and no. This is a subjective question. It helps those, who use it. As a personal note, always make this warning an error. Using gcc compiler use -Werror=implicit-function-declaration. But you can also ignore this warning and make the simplest main() { printf("hello world!n"); } program.

linker will do its job to produce the final executable file? so the only purpose of include file2,c to me is, don't show any warning during compilation, is my understanding correct.

No. In cases the function is called using different/not-compatible pointer type. It invokes undefined behavior. If the function is declared as void (*function2(void))(int a); then calling ((int(*)())function2)() is UB as is calling function2() without previous declaration. Per Annex J.2 (informative):

The behavior is undefined in the following circumstances:

A pointer is used to call a function whose type is not compatible with the pointed-to type (6.3.2.3).

and per C11 6.3.2.3p8:

A pointer to a function of one type may be converted to a pointer to a function of another type and back again; the result shall compare equal to the original pointer. If a converted pointer is used to call a function whose type is not compatible with the referenced type, the behavior is undefined.

So in your lucky case int function2() indeed this works. It also works for example for atoi() function. But calling atol() will invoke undefined behavior.

Q2:

the linker throws the error

This should happen, but is really linker dependent. If you compile all sources using a single stage with the gcc compiler it will throw an error. But if you create static libraries and then link them using gcc compiler without -Wl,-whole-archive then it will pick the first declaration is sees, see this thread.

what's the purpose of adding header file?

I guess simplicity and order. It is a convenient and standard way to share data structures (enum, struct, typedefs) and declarations (function and variable types) between developers and libraries. Also to share preprocessor directives. Image you are writing a big library with over 1000+ files that will work with over 100+ other libraries. In the beginning of each file would you write struct mydata_s { int member1; int member2; ... }; int printf(const char*, ...); int scanf(const char *, ...); etc. or just #include "mydata.h" and #include <stdio.h>? If you would need to change mydata_s structure, you would need to change all files in your project and all the other developers which use your library would need to change the definition too. I don't say you can't do it, but it would be more work to do it and no one will use your library.

Q3:

What should we add to let the programmer know he should choose a different name for function2 rather then be informed the error by linker in the final stage.

In case of name clashes you will by informed (hopefully) by the linker that it found two identifiers with the same name. You would need to create a tool to check your sources exactly for that. I don't know why the need for this, the linker is specifically made to resolve symbols so it naturally handles the cases when two symbols with the same identifier exists.

Short answer:

Take away: the earlier the compiler alert the better.

Q1: meaning of .h: consistency and early alerts. Alerting early on common ways of going wrong improves reliability of code and adds up to less debugging and production crashes.

Q2: Clashing Names bring early alerts to developers, which are usually easier to fix.

Q3: Early duplicate definition alerts are not baked into the C standard.

Exercises:
1. Define a function in one file that printf("%dn",i) an int argument then call that function in another file with a float of 42.0.
2. Call with (double)42.0.
3. Define function with char *str argument printed under %.s then call with int argument.

Longer answers:

Popular convention: in typical use the name of the .h file is derived from the .c file, or files, it is associated with. file.h and file.c. For .h files with many definitions, say string.h, derive the file name from a hither perspective of what's within (as in the str... functions).

My big rule: it’s always better to structure your code so compilers can immediately alert on bugs at compile time rather than letting them slide through to debug or run time where they depend on code actually running in just the right way to find. Run time errors can be very difficult to diagnose, especially if they hit long after the program is in production, and expensive in maintenance and brings down your customer experience. See "yoda notation".

Q1: meaning of .h: consistency and early alerts and improved reliability of code.

C .h files allow developers of .c files compiled at different times to share common declarations. No duplicate code. .h files also allow functions to be consistently called from all files while identifying improper argument signatures (argument counts, bad clashes, etc.). Having.c files defining functions also #include the .h file helps assure the arguments in the definition are consistent with the calls; this may sound elementary, but without it all the human errors of signature clashes can sneak through.

Omitting .h files only works if the argument signatures of all callers perfectly match those in the definitions. This is often not the case so without .h files any clashing signatures would produce bad numbers unless you also had parallel externs in the calling file (bad bad bad). Things like int vs float can produce spectacularly wrong argument values. Bad pointers can produce segment faults and other total crashes.

Advantage: with externs in .h files compilers can correctly cast mismatching arguments to the correct type, assuring better calls. While you can still botch arguments it’s much less likely. It also helps avoid conditions where the mismatches work on one implementation but not another.

Implicit declaration warnings are hugely helpful to me as they usually indicate I’ve forgotten a .h file or spelled the name an external name wrong.

Q2: Clashing Names. Early alerts.

Clashing names are bad and it is the developers responsibility to avoid problems. C++ solves the issue with name spaces, which C, being a lower level language, does not have.

Use of .h files can allow can let compiler diagnostics alert developers where clashes care are early in the game. If compiler diagnostics don’t do this hopefully linkers will do so on multidefined symbol errors, but this is not guaranteed by the standard.

A common way to fake name spaces is by starting all potentially clashing definitions in a .h with some prefix (extern int filex_function1(int arg, char *string) or #define FILEX_DEF 42).

What to do if two different external libraries being used share the same names is beyond the scope of this answer.

Q3: early duplicate alerts. Sorry… early alerts are implementation dependent.

This would be difficult for the C standard to define. As C is an old language there are many creative different ways C programs are written and stored.
Hunting for clashing names before using them is up to the developer. Tools like cross reference programs can help. Even something stupid like ctags associated with vim or emacs can help.

you misunderstand usage of header files and function prototypes.

1. header files are needed to share common information between multiple code files. such information includes macro definition, data types, and, possibly, function prototypes.




2. function protoypes are needed for the compiler to correctly handle return data types and to give you early warnings of misuse of function return types and arguments.




3. function prototypes can be declared in header files or can be declared in the files which use them (more typing).

you have a very simple example, with just 2 files. Now imagine a project with hudreds of files and thousands of functions. You will be lost in linker errors.

'c' allows you to use an undeclared function due to legacy reasons. In this situation it assumes that the function has a return type of 'int'. However, modern data types has a bigger veriety than in early days. The function can return pointers, 64-bit data, structures. To express that you must use prototypes or nothing will work. The compiler has to know how to handle function returns correctly.

Also, it can give you warnings about incorrect use of argument types. Due to leagacy, those are still warnings, but they got addressed in early c++ and converted to errors.

Those warnings give you early debugging capabilities. Type mismatch warnings can save you days of debugging in some cases.

So, in your example you do not need the header file. You can prototype the function in the 'main' file using the 'extern' syntax. You can even do without prototyping. However, in real modern programming world you cannot allow the latter. In particular when you work in a team or want your program to be maintainable.

It is a good idea to store you funcion protypes in header files. This would be a good documentation source, in particular with good comments. BTW, function names must make sense to be maintainable.

Q1. Yes. C is a low level language, and was historically used to bind low level constructs into higher level concepts. For example, traditionally the label _end is at the last address in a program. The label is typeless but you can declare it as any type that is convenient to you. A "properly typed" language would make this sort of abuse difficult.

Q2. By convention, both file1.c and file2.c would include file2.h; one as consumer, the other as producer. Following this simple idiom will catch declaration vs definition errors; although again, the "warning" is not necessarily enforced.

Q3. Many software organizations take a "warnings are errors" rule to socially control their programmers.