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0 pointschrisseaton3y ago0 comments

> nice well-encapsulated

...

> void *

0 comments

Type safety and encapsulation aren't the same thing. Encapsulation is about hiding implementation details from the user of an API, which is what the comment I originally replied to was claiming you couldn't do in C.

chrisseatonOP3y ago

The void * is (should have been!) an implementation detail, and you're leaking it in the interface - that's not encapsulation.

For example if I want to store a __int128 on a 64-bit machine I'll have to deal with stuff like memory allocation and lifetime myself, when the data structure should do that.

tgflynn3y ago

It's not an implementation detail, it is part of the interface. The data it points to belongs to the caller and the caller is responsible for managing it, just like anywhere else in C.

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tgflynn3y ago

chrisseatonOP3y ago

The void * is (should have been!) an implementation detail, and you're leaking it in the interface - that's not encapsulation.

For example if I want to store a __int128 on a 64-bit machine I'll have to deal with stuff like memory allocation and lifetime myself, when the data structure should do that.

tgflynn3y ago

It's not an implementation detail, it is part of the interface. The data it points to belongs to the caller and the caller is responsible for managing it, just like anywhere else in C.

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse