Re: g_list_next(foo) vs. foo->next

[Tim Müller <t i m zen co uk>]

On Thursday 18 November 2004 20:30, Neil Zanella wrote:

> I was just wondering whether
>
> g_list_next(foo)
>
> and
>
> foo->next
>
> are really the same or not. It seems to me that they are but
> that the former construct is preferable for object-oriented-like reasons.

~/src/cvs/glib/glib ---> grep g_list_next glist.h
#define g_list_next(list)       ((list) ? (((GList *)(list))->next) : NULL)

So yes, they are basically the same, with the exception that you can use 
g_list_next() on a NULL pointer, while you can't do that with l->next, so if 
you have already checked for NULL anyway, like in

  for (l = list;  l;  l = l->next) { ... do stuff ... } 

you save the extra check that g_list_next() would introduce.

Which of the two you use is mostly a matter of personal preference; this is 
really basic API that's very unlikely to change anytime soon. It's 
definitively nothing to worry about, and if you check the Gtk+ source code 
(for example), you'll see that both varieties are used.

Cheers 
 -Tim