>>> The variables{files, file} will definitely be assigned, >> >> I find an other specification nicer for these identifiers. >> >> >>> so we don't need to initialize them. … > We don't need to initialize the variable “file”. I can agree to this interpretation of the software situation because there is a precondition involved for the variable “ret”. https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/v5.7-rc7/source/fs/proc/fd.c#L20 https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/tree/fs/proc/fd.c?id=b0c3ba31be3e45a130e13b278cf3b90f69bda6f6#n20 > I don't find the programming concerns around the handling of the null > pointer for the variable “file”. I find the initial change description too terse and therefore incomplete. > If you have other suggestions, please elaborate on the details. I propose to extend the patch. How do you think about to convert initialisations for the variables “f_flags” and “ret” also into later assignments? Regards, Markus