Re: Avoid unecessary MemSet call (src/backend/utils/cache/relcache.c)

Ranier Vilela <ranier(dot)vf(at)gmail(dot)com> writes:
> I found, I believe, a serious problem of incorrect usage of the memset api.
> Historically, people have relied on using memset or MemSet, using the
> variable name as an argument for the sizeof.
> While it works correctly, for arrays, when it comes to pointers to
> structures, things go awry.

You'll have to convince people that any of these places are in
fact incorrect. Everyone who's used C for any length of time
is well aware of the possibility of getting sizeof() wrong in
this sort of context, and I think we've been careful about it.

Also, as a stylistic matter I think it's best to write
"memset(&x, 0, sizeof(x))" where we can. Replacing sizeof(x)
with sizeof(some type name) has its own risks of error, and
therefore is not automatically an improvement.

regards, tom lane