🚀 go-pugleaf

(Since the question was about ANSI C, I have deleted `comp.std.c++'.)

In article <1992Apr9.165859.18578@wam.umd.edu> krc@wam.umd.edu
(Kevin R. Coombes) writes:
>>I have a question about the ANSI C header stdlib.h. A certain compiler
>>... includes macros for min(a,b) and max(a,b) in <stdlib.h>. ...
>>Are min and max SUPPOSED to be in stdlib.h, and have I been just lucky
>>in avoiding this problem in the past?

The ANSI C standard clearly states that <stdlib.h> defines the following:

  - macros:
	NULL
	EXIT_FAILURE
	EXIT_SUCCESS
	RAND_MAX
	MB_CUR_MAX

  - types:
	size_t
	wchar_t
	div_t
	ldiv_t

  - functions:
	atof
	atoi
	atol
	strtod
	strtol
	strtoul
	rand
	srand
	calloc
	free
	malloc
	realloc
	abort
	atexit
	exit
	getenv
	system
	bsearch
	qsort
	abs
	div
	labs
	ldiv
	mblen
	mbtowc
	wctomb
	mbstowcs
	wcstombs

It also notes that future standards may add function names that begin
with |str| and a lowercase letter (e.g., strabc, strrts, etc.).

Other parts of the standard clearly forbid all implementations to
define in <stdlib.h> any names not listed above, except for special
cases involving identifiers beginning with underscore.

The identifiers `min' and `max' do not appear in the list above, and
do not begin with an underscore.  Therefore they may not appear in
<stdlib.h>.

Conclusion: if the vendor claims ANSI conformance, <stdlib.h> is broken.
(If not, well, the standard can hardly control nonstandard implementations.)

In article <1324@hydra.bucknell.edu> cwalker@albiero.tmc.edu
(carleton walker `93) writes:
>	I've always used the MIN and MAX in <mp.h>. I took a peak in
><stdlib.h> and couldn't find a MIN or MAX function. Do you include
><mp.h>?

<mp.h> does not appear in the ANSI standard, so this reply is not
relevant to the question as asked.  Your particular implementation is
not the ANSI C standard---no particular implementation can be---and
may or may not even attempt to conform.

Nonetheless, min and max macros are commonly found in nonstandard
headers (such as <sys/param.h>) on Unix systems, among others.
Sometimes they are spelled in uppercase, sometimes in lowercase.  If
you want your code to compile on non-standard systems, you may wish to
avoid these names.
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Lawrence Berkeley Lab CSE/EE (+1 510 486 5427)
Berkeley, CA		Domain:	torek@ee.lbl.gov