Comment by unwind | Hacker News Reader

Comment by unwind | Hacker News Reader

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Cool, I remember the name Dillo from ... way back when, I guess.

Interesting to see a mix of C and C++ in the same codebase, that always makes me curious if there is some internal/mental "pressure" to convert the C code to C++ since that does seem simpler in many ways if you're already using C++.

Also, does anyone know why the functions have a (to me, incredibly random) "a_" prefix? Like this, from "dicache.h" [1]:

    void a_Dicache_init (void);
    DICacheEntry *a_Dicache_get_entry(const DilloUrl *Url, int version);
    void *a_Dicache_png_image(const char *Type, void *Ptr, CA_Callback_t *Call, void **Data);
    void *a_Dicache_gif_image(const char *Type, void *Ptr, CA_Callback_t *Call, void **Data);

It's like a set of perfectly module-prefixed names, but then an additional prefix of "a_" has been added?

Edit: moved a comma.

[1]: https://github.com/dillo-browser/dillo/blob/master/src/dicac...

> Interesting to see a mix of C and C++ in the same codebase, that always makes me curious if there is some internal/mental "pressure" to convert the C code to C++ since that does seem simpler in many ways if you're already using C++.

The initial Dillo was fully written in C and it used GTK+. As it moved to FLTK it began rewriting parts in C++.

> Also, does anyone know why the functions have a (to me, incredibly random) "a_" prefix? Like this, from "dicache.h" [1]:

This is something Jorge came up with around 1999[1] for the C part, so the "a_" prefix states functions that are used outside the module (like public in C++), while the others are not. The choice of "a" is explained as:

> Why the "a_" prefix? > > Because it reads better "a_Menu_create" than "d_Menu_create" cause the first one suggests "a Menu create" function!

[1]: https://dillo-browser.github.io/old/NC_design.html

I don't think this alone is a good choice, as one should better use "static" to enforce it.

Wow! Thanks for responding, and providing such an awesome answer.

Yes, that sounds very much like a lack of "static", which makes it even more confusing. It sounds unlikely that someone would start a browser project in C and not know about static.

I would not agree that it reads "better", it just makes it more random. Adding a letter that at least hinted at what was meant would have been better, if we're for some reason are limited to a single letter (like "p_" for public).

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