Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!watmath!maytag!aries5!giguere
From: giguere@aries5.uucp (Eric Giguere)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.tech
Subject: Re: strins()
Keywords: Lattice C Manx Aztec C strins() sprintf
Message-ID: <256@maytag.waterloo.edu>
Date: 14 Jun 89 08:34:11 GMT
References: <0929.AA0929@caleb> <109394@sun.Eng.Sun.COM> <10285@watcgl.waterloo.edu> <384@xdos.UUCP>
Sender: daemon@maytag.waterloo.edu
Reply-To: giguere@aries5.waterloo.edu (Eric Giguere)
Organization: Computer Systems Group, University of Waterloo
Lines: 33

In article <10285@watcgl.waterloo.edu> gswan@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Geo Swan) writes:
>I have seen lots of code that builds strings, particularly pathnames
>through the use of several calls to strcat.  I have never been able
>to understand why people didn't use sprintf.  Particularly in the
>case of building pathnames.

If you're trying to write small programs with as little library 
overhead as possible you should avoid any of the (f/s/v)printf routines
if at all possible.  As anyone who's looked through the bowels of a C
compiler knows, the printf routines are some of the largest routines
around and non-trivial to code.  That's why the standard program      

     main()
       {
         printf( "hello, world\n" );
       }

is actually more of a test for the C compiler than you'd normally think.
A routine like strcat is for the most part just a tight loop that moves
characters around and is very economical.

Having said that, once you've used printf even once in a program you might
as well use the others if convenient (and if not too slow for you) since
the code is there already (fprintf, sprintf, vprintf and printf are all
front-ends to a central format routine).

At least in Aztec C (and Lattice, I assume) printf isn't too bad if you
don't use any floating-point functions.

Eric Giguere                                  268 Phillip St #CL-46
For the curious: it's French ("jee-gair")     Waterloo, Ontario  N2L 6G9
Bitnet  : GIGUERE at WATCSG                   (519) 746-6565
Internet: giguere@aries5.UWaterloo.ca         "Nothing but urges from HELL!!"