Re: working with "good enough" functions

[Bruno Haible]

Mike Frysinger and Simon Josefsson wrote:
> >> If this happens often enough, perhaps gnulib should have a
> >> printf-posix-no-fp module that does what you want?
> >
> > i would certainly use it, but if i'm the only one expressing interest thus 
> > far, then maybe it isnt a hot issue.
> 
> I see that some *printf objects from gnulib are linked into builds even
> on glibc platforms.  If that would be fixed by using a module
> printf-posix-no-fp, I would use it.  (My projects rarely use
> float/double.)

But "rarely" does not mean "never". The point of the gnulib substitutes is
that you can use %zd, %f, etc. in your format strings and don't need to
worry about platforms or compatibility.

If someone is to introduce yet another variant *iprintf for format strings
that contain only integer/pointer/character/string directives and no
floating-point directives, then it reduces the reliability of your program:
If you happen to use %f in such a place nevertheless, the compiler will not
be able to warn you. (GCC supports an attribute __printf__ but none for
__iprintf__.)

I would let things lie as they are: Nowadays, executable size is not critical
any more.

Bruno