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[Andy Wardley]

Andy Armstrong wrote:
>  size_t sl = strlen(somestring); /* get length of string */
> 
> would be bad :)

Indeed.  A good rule of thumb is to explain why you're doing something,
not what you're doing.

For example:

   size_t sl = strlen(somestring) + 1; /* don't forget the terminating '\0' */
   char *ptr = (char *) malloc(s1);

Another good rule is to make the purpose of the code blindingly obvious so
you don't need to explain it. But that's easier said than done...

As for learning C/XS you might like to take a look at the Perl and XS
implementations of Template::Stash in the Template Toolkit
(lib/Template/Stash.pm and xs/Stash.xs).  I can't vouch for the quality
of the code and because it's a very time critical part of TT there are
trade-offs between clarity and speed.  But you get to look at Perl and XS
implementations side-by-side so you can see how much nicer it is to write
Perl code than XS.

For example, in Perl:

     if (ref $item eq 'ARRAY') {
         # array slice
         return [@$root[@$item]];
     }

And in XS:

     /* try array slice */
     if (SvROK(key_sv) && SvTYPE(SvRV(key_sv)) == SVt_PVAV) {
         AV *a_av = newAV();
         AV *k_av = (AV *) SvRV(key_sv);
         AV *r_av = (AV *) SvRV(root);
         I32 i;
         SV **svp;

         for (i = 0; i <= av_len(k_av); i++) {
             if ((svp = av_fetch(k_av, i, FALSE))) {
             	SvGETMAGIC(*svp);
                 if (looks_like_number(*svp) &&
                    (svp = av_fetch(r_av, SvIV(*svp), FALSE))) {
                    SvGETMAGIC(*svp);
                    av_push(a_av, SvREFCNT_inc(*svp));
                 }
             }
         }
         return sv_2mortal(newRV_noinc((SV *) a_av));
     }

I rather dread receiving patches for the Stash because the patcher inevitably
patches the Perl version and leaves the XS patch as an exercise for the
reader (i.e. me).  Although I must admit, I do quite like hacking C code in a
sick and twisted maze of passages all alike kinda way.  But it's the reference
counting that always gets me in XS.  I used the "random monkeys until it no
longer leaks memory pr dumps core" approach :-)

A