Use func(void) for functions with no parameters

From: Bertrand Drouvot <bertranddrouvot(dot)pg(at)gmail(dot)com>
To: pgsql-hackers(at)lists(dot)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: Use func(void) for functions with no parameters
Date: 2025-12-03 14:51:25
Message-ID: aTBObQPg+ps5I7vl@ip-10-97-1-34.eu-west-3.compute.internal
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Hi hackers,

In C standards till C17, func() means "unspecified parameters" while func(void)
means "no parameters". The former disables compile time type checking and was
marked obsolescent in C99 ([1]).

This patch replaces empty parameter lists with explicit void to enable proper
type checking and eliminate possible undefined behavior (see [1]) if the function
is called with parameters. This also prevents real bugs (API misuse for example).

Remarks:

- C23 ([2]) made func() and func(void) equivalent and would produce an error
if an argument is passed.

- The patch has been generated with the help of a coccinelle script [3]. It does
modify 8 functions and did not touch the few ones in .c "test" files (libpq_testclient.c
for example).

[1]: https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n1256.pdf
[2]: https://www.open-std.org/jtc1/sc22/wg14/www/docs/n3220.pdf
[3]: https://github.com/bdrouvot/coccinelle_on_pg/blob/main/misc/use_func_void.cocci

Regards,

--
Bertrand Drouvot
PostgreSQL Contributors Team
RDS Open Source Databases
Amazon Web Services: https://aws.amazon.com

Attachment Content-Type Size
v1-0001-Use-func-void-for-functions-with-no-parameters.patch text/x-diff 5.5 KB

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