On Tue, Jun 04, 2002 at 02:17:01PM -0500, Little, John wrote: > why do some functions begin with double underscores? Identifiers starting with an underscore are reserved for the C implementation. Since the kernel doesn't use too much of the C implementation (run time support.. libgcc, libcrt, perhaps), someone decided that names beginning with an underscore was probably a safe enough way to mark some functions as dangerous and for internal use only. You'll often see functions named like this: function () __function () where the function() simply does some sanity checks on input before calling __function (). It is done for speed reasons: if you've checked that the inputs are sane and safe, you can call the __ version. If you haven't, you should call the normal version, and let it do the checking. As far as I know, this isn't a codified practice, so I wouldn't suggest relying on it, unless you've looked at both versions, and are fairly certain your checks are sufficient... -- http://www.wirex.com/
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