Hacker News with Generative AI: C

Improving performance of original dav1d video decoder (videolan.org)
I noticed a very clickbait bounty, I initially realized that company's original task was not to overtake implementation, but to advertise that Rust is 5% slower than C. Whether she actually pays or not is another matter. The main thing for Prossimo was to make a fuss that the current rav1d implementation was only 5% slower, so that the general public would think that the language was the same in speed.
Video Encoding, Performance Optimization, Rust, C, Open Source
50 points by ycomb_anon 34 days ago | 23 comments
Ratatoi is a C libary that wraps stdlib's strtol (as atoi does), but it's evil. (github.com/rept0id)
C, Libraries, Programming, Security
31 points by rept0id-2 37 days ago | 40 comments
Fortran for C Programmers (llvm.org)
This note is limited to essential information about Fortran so that a C or C++ programmer can get started more quickly with the language, at least as a reader, and avoid some common pitfalls when starting to write or modify Fortran code.
Programming Languages, Fortran, C, C++
39 points by todsacerdoti 41 days ago | 30 comments
I think about C99 strict aliasing rules (alanwu.space)
Recently I was asked how I review C99 code for problems that arise from failing to follow the so called “strict aliasing rules”. I struggled to answer, so I thought I would write a post to hopefully make my explanation more coherent.
Programming, C, Software Development
10 points by fanf2 42 days ago | 1 comments
How (memory) safe is Zig? (2021) (scattered-thoughts.net)
I keep seeing discussions that equate zig's level of memory safety with c (or occasionally with rust!). Neither is particularly accurate. This is an attempt at a more detailed breakdown.
Programming Languages, Memory Safety, Zig, C, Rust
38 points by vortex_ape 45 days ago | 84 comments
Comparison of C/POSIX standard library implementations for Linux (etalabs.net)
The table below and notes which follow are a comparison of some of the different standard library implementations available for Linux, with a particular focus on the balance between feature-richness and bloat.
Linux, C, POSIX, Operating Systems, Standards
142 points by smartmic 49 days ago | 56 comments
Odin, a pragmatic C alternative with a Go flavour (bitshifters.cc)
Odin is a general-purpose systems programming language authored by Bill “gingerBill” Hall. Designed as a modern alternative to C, Odin emphasizes simplicity, performance, and readability without sacrificing control over low-level details.
Programming Languages, C, Go
144 points by hmac1282 50 days ago | 128 comments
Detecting if an expression is constant in C (nrk.neocities.org)
Here's a fun little language puzzle: implement a macro that takes an (integer or floating) expression as an argument and:
Programming, C, Macros, Language Puzzles
48 points by signa11 50 days ago | 14 comments
Understanding effective type Aliasing in C [pdf] (open-std.org)
C, Programming Languages, Type Aliasing
54 points by quelsolaar 53 days ago | 18 comments
Code Wars: Rust vs. C in the Battle for Billion-Device Safety (thenewstack.io)
Programming Languages, Security, Performance, Rust, C
6 points by fork-bomber 55 days ago | 1 comments
Review – Fluent C – Principles, Practices, and Patterns (2023) (accu.org)
Considering the number of programmers using C, it is a language poorly served by technical books (on my bookshelves I have more than 10× as many C++ books as C ones). I think that a lot of people consider C an easy language to learn and just learn some basics and start coding.
Programming, C, Books
11 points by teleforce 60 days ago | 0 comments
Bare metal printf – C standard library without OS (popovicu.com)
Today we’ll take a look at how we can leverage Newlib to create a compact C standard library for usage on a bare metal system.
C, Embedded Systems, Programming, Operating Systems
229 points by todsacerdoti 62 days ago | 81 comments
Detecting if an expression is constant in C (nrk.neocities.org)
Here's a fun little language puzzle: implement a macro that takes an expression as an argument and:
C, Programming, Macros, Language Puzzles
62 points by ingve 67 days ago | 46 comments
Show HN: I rewrote few of the common core string.h functions (github.com/deep-vinci)
learning and re-implementing c functions
C, Programming, Open Source, Software
9 points by deepvinci 70 days ago | 10 comments
Show HN: Essentials-C – A minimal C library for string and array manipulation (github.com/oileo)
Essentials-C is a simple yet useful collection of utility functions written in C. It provides helpful string manipulation functions that can make handling C strings more intuitive. This library is open-source under the MIT license, so feel free to use and modify it. Just don't forget to credit the author! 😆
C, Libraries, Open Source, Programming, String Manipulation
10 points by Shinpi 74 days ago | 1 comments
Rust to C compiler – 95.9% test pass rate, odd platforms (fractalfir.github.io)
This is an update on the progress I have made on my Rust to C compiler. I am experimenting a bit with a new article format: instead of an overarching theme, this is more of a collection of smaller bits and pieces, sewn together.
Rust, C, Programming Languages, Compiler
253 points by todsacerdoti 77 days ago | 255 comments
An Educational Parallel Algorithm Collection (github.com/s-hironobu)
This is a parallel algorithm collection written in C. It contains fifteen programs that are explained in the book "The Art of Multiprocessor Programming (M. Herlihy, N. Shavit)".
Programming, C, Algorithms, Parallel Computing, Education
8 points by tanelpoder 78 days ago | 0 comments
A compiler for the Micron programming language – the Oberon with the power of C (github.com/rochus-keller)
This project implements a compiler for the Micron programming language.
Programming Languages, Compilers, Oberon, C
13 points by todsacerdoti 80 days ago | 0 comments
Writing C for Curl (haxx.se)
It is a somewhat common question to me: how do we write C in curl to make it safe and secure for billions of installations? Some precautions we take and decisions we make. There is no silver bullet, just guidelines. As I think you can see for yourself below they are also neither strange nor surprising.
Programming, Security, C, Curl, Open Source
124 points by TangerineDream 82 days ago | 91 comments
Make C string literals const? (wordpress.com)
Martin Uecker has started a new initiative to ensure a better const contract for C2y: change the type of string literals to a const-qualified base type, much as it is already the case in C++. Compilers support this since a very long time; some of them have this as default, some provide command line switches for that model.
C, Programming Languages, Compiler Optimization, Software Engineering, Best Practices
35 points by ingve 82 days ago | 53 comments
Understanding Memory Management, Part 4: Rust Ownership and Borrowing (educatedguesswork.org)
This is the fourth post in my planned multipart series on memory management. Part I covers the basics of memory allocation and how it works in C, and parts II and III covered the basics of C++ memory management, including RAII and smart pointers.
Programming, Memory Management, Rust, C++, C
5 points by ekr____ 89 days ago | 0 comments
Why is this site built with C (marcelofern.com)
Learning from these two past mistakes, I came up with a set of requirements for my next (and hopefully final) website:
Programming Languages, Website Development, C
160 points by todsacerdoti 90 days ago | 132 comments
Writing a Bash builtin in C to parse INI configs (mbuki-mvuki.org)
Shell languages such as Bash excel at certain tasks, such as gluing programs together or quickly automating a set of command line steps. In contrast to those strengths, using a Shell to parse an INI config file is a bit like writing a poem in mud, you might succeed, but the result will probably be inscrutable and your swear jar will be full!
Bash, C, INI Files, Programming, Configuration Management
30 points by namanyayg 91 days ago | 3 comments
C and C++ prioritize performance over correctness (2023) (swtch.com)
The original ANSI C standard, C89, introduced the concept of “undefined behavior,” which was used both to describe the effect of outright bugs like accessing memory in a freed object and also to capture the fact that existing implementations differed about handling certain aspects of the language, including use of uninitialized values, signed integer overflow, and null pointer handling.
Programming Languages, Software Development, C, C++, Standards
93 points by endorphine 91 days ago | 129 comments
Show HN: I made a C program to create a vanity SHA-1 hash for a text file (github.com)
Programming, Security, Cryptography, Show HN, C
58 points by keepamovin 92 days ago | 24 comments
Let's Build a Simple Database (cstack.github.io)
I’m building a clone of sqlite from scratch in C in order to understand, and I’m going to document my process as I go.
Programming, Databases, C, Software Development, Open Source
6 points by ibobev 98 days ago | 0 comments
The earliest versions of the first C compiler known to exist (github.com/mortdeus)
The earliest versions of the very first c compiler known to exist in the wild written by the late legend himself dmr.
Programming, History, C, Software History
375 points by diginova 99 days ago | 173 comments
Stupid Smart Pointers in C (kevinalbs.com)
Managing memory in C is difficult and error prone. C++ solves this with smart pointers like std::unique_ptr and std::shared_ptr. This article demonstrates a proof-of-concept (aka stupid) smart pointer in C with very little code. Along the way we'll look at the layout of the 32-bit x86 call stack and write assembly in a C program.
C, Programming, Memory Management, Software Development, Pointers
146 points by seansh 103 days ago | 164 comments
Implementing Generic Types in C (btmc.substack.com)
One of the most annoying things about programming in C is the lack of support for generic types, also known as parametric polymorphism.
C, Programming, Generics
89 points by sirwhinesalot 104 days ago | 44 comments
The Defer Technical Specification: It Is Time (thephd.dev)
After the Graz, Austria February 2025 WG14 Meeting, I am now confident in the final status of the defer TS, and it is now time.
Programming Languages, C, Standards
11 points by todsacerdoti 104 days ago | 2 comments