Memories of C

C has three different pools of memory.

– Static: global variable storage, permanent for the entire run of the program.
– Stack: local variable storage (continuous memory).
– Heap: dynamic storage (large pool of memory, not allocated in contiguous order).

For example:

int theforce;

On an Intel Core Duo, the variable uses 4 bytes of memory. This memory can come from one of two places. If a variable is declared outside of a function, it is considered global, meaning it is accessible anywhere in the program. Global variables are static, and there is only one copy for the entire program.

The stack is used to store variables used on the inside of a function. Once a function finishes running, all the memory it uses is freed up. The stack is a special region of memory. Stack memory is divided into successive frames where each time a function is called, it allocates itself a fresh stack frame.

The heap is a bunch of memory that can be used dynamically. The heap is generally used by dynamic allocator functions such as malloc. If you want 4kb of memory for an object the dynamic allocator will obtain it from the heap.

Consider the following example:

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>

int x;          

int main(void) 
{
   int y;   
   char *str; 
  
   str = malloc(100);  
   free(str);          

   return 0;
}

The variable x is static storage, because of its global nature. Both y and str are dynamic stack storage which is deallocated when the program ends. The function malloc is used to allocate 100 bytes of dynamic heap storage to str. Conversely, the function free, deallocates the memory associated with str.

Variable name mnemonics

In a 1967 article in Datamation[1], a simple set of rules were described for abbreviating variable names using mnemonics. Mnemonics aid in increasing the readability of programs by reducing the length of variable names. The article follows these rules:

1. Abbreviate every significant word in the name, up to a maximum of three words.
2. Initial letters must always be present.
3. Consonants are more important than vowels.
4. The beginning of a word is more important than the end.
5. Abbreviate to between 6-15 letters in all.

For example, “speed of light” becomes spd_lght.

[1] Jackson, M., “Mnemonics”, Datamation (1967).

Dijkstra on testing

In 1976, Dijkstra remarked:

“many programmers now live in a limbo of folklore, in a vague and slippery world, in which they are never quite sure what the system will do to their programs”

Has anything really changed?