The most idiomatic and elegant 'dynamic array in C' solution is stb_ds.h, it's as simple as that :)
The 'public handle' is a pointer to the array elements so it has the same semantics as a regular C array, the meta-data (capacity and length) are stored directly in front of the array items. Growing the array has the same behaviour as realloc (e.g. you may get a new pointer back).
No structs, just an array that accomplishes the same thing, without field names or other niceties. Enjoy the pleasure of not using a struct when you inevitably add/reduce/reorder fields later.
The reason the struct is avoided here is so the array can be typed to its element type (rather than casting to and from `void*`).
With a struct we would need one struct for each element type - at least prior to C23 which provides a better approach where we can declare the same struct multiple times in a translation unit.
#define Array(T) struct array_##T { size_t len; T *elems; }
We can use `Array(int)` in multiple places in the same TU - but in C11 or earlier, this is an error.
The C standard doesn’t guarantee that arbitrary integer values converted to a pointer and back result in the same integer values again. It only guarantees the other direction, that a valid pointer to void, when converted to uintptr_t and back again, will result in a pointer that compares equal to the original. The conversion from uintptr_t to pointer may for example clear or truncate some of the bits of the integer value, or normalize it in some other way.
It’s not so brilliant when you have an array of size 2^n and you append and then pop off the end in a loop and each operation takes time proportional to the length of the vector.
Usually, dynamic arrays aim for amortized constant time for append and pop. This trick loses that property.
Restoring it only needs one additional bit of storage, however (whether the buffer is currently 2⌊n/2⌋ or 4⌊n/2⌋ elements in size), which we can probably squeeze in somewhere.
More disappointing is that libc still forces us to use the free(p) API, without a length argument, meaning we are still paying to store a(n approximation of) the length somewhere in the allocation metadata.
It doesn’t really work though for generic vectors. If you support not just vec_push but vec_pop as well, then you really do need to store capacity separately or else call realloc way more often than you normally need to.
That may be true, but it may also mean you utilize more memory than you need to. If you aren't shrinking the array when you no longer need previously allocated capacity then you're wasting memory. You could end up with an array of 10 elements and an allocation of 2^10.
The capacity as bit_ceil(len) ensures that at most, half of the allocated space is wasted - excess space is O(n).
Really? It's been done plenty and I thought was quite common knowledge. Some of the <stdbit.h> provided functions are basically for this purpose.
stdc_bit_ceil(len) gets the smallest power of 2 not less than len, which is our capacity. This is usually implemented with a clz instruction.
stdc_has_single_bit(len) determines if it's a power of 2 - typically implemented with a popcount instruction (popcount(len)==1).
The approach isn't used in older (90s and earlier) texts because hardware support for popcount/clz wasn't commonplace and the cost to do it in software wasn't worth it, but it is mentioned in some texts.
I think it was sarcasm. I have about as much experience as them in low-level C programming, and I was wondering why this is on front page. I've also discovered again a few things too, so I won't look down on OP. It's certainly better than vibe coding.
I know about XOR-linked lists and a few other tricks for very efficient memory usage in embedded systems, but it's my first time seeing implicit allocation lengths.
Everyone knows about bit-fiddling functions, what the poster was referring to is using this trick to not have to store the capacity for a dynamic vector. Which is genuinely very clever and rare, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done quite like this either. I think that’s probably because it’s not really that good of an idea, if the vector can shrink, you really should store the capacity.
I don't think it's that rare. I've been using the technique for years, and I've seen it done in other work. Bagwell's VList[1] for example uses the equivalent of `bit_ceil` to determine the size of each block without having to store it - and there are earlier works based on the same trick. RAOTS, which is referenced by the VList, mentions using the technique, but itself uses a slightly more complex trick where we can calculate the size of a block based on the approx square root of the length.
You can use the trick if the array can shrink as long as you always shrink the allocation when length goes below the next power of 2 not greater than len (which may make use of stdc_bit_floor).
Ignoring multiple evaluation, one can also #define stdc_has_single_bit(X) !((X) & ((X)-1)). If X isn't a power of two, the -1 will leave the MSB in place.
> First of all, structs aren't used so you don't have to invent names for them (e.g. there is no IntVec)
But since it’s storing a void pointer any way, they wouldn’t need separate names right? You could use one struct everywhere regardless of the type of the items
Which IMO is a better idea than using an array here because the fields can be properly named and typed to prevent accidental misuse
Enjoy the annoying-to-debug errors when someone inevitably mixes arr[0] with arr[1] and tramples the heap (this could be mitigated by accessing the fields with macros), or writes arr[3] because they forgot this is not a regular array.
The most idiomatic and elegant 'dynamic array in C' solution is stb_ds.h, it's as simple as that :)
The 'public handle' is a pointer to the array elements so it has the same semantics as a regular C array, the meta-data (capacity and length) are stored directly in front of the array items. Growing the array has the same behaviour as realloc (e.g. you may get a new pointer back).
No structs, just an array that accomplishes the same thing, without field names or other niceties. Enjoy the pleasure of not using a struct when you inevitably add/reduce/reorder fields later.
[dead]
The reason the struct is avoided here is so the array can be typed to its element type (rather than casting to and from `void*`).
With a struct we would need one struct for each element type - at least prior to C23 which provides a better approach where we can declare the same struct multiple times in a translation unit.
We can use `Array(int)` in multiple places in the same TU - but in C11 or earlier, this is an error.The C standard doesn’t guarantee that arbitrary integer values converted to a pointer and back result in the same integer values again. It only guarantees the other direction, that a valid pointer to void, when converted to uintptr_t and back again, will result in a pointer that compares equal to the original. The conversion from uintptr_t to pointer may for example clear or truncate some of the bits of the integer value, or normalize it in some other way.
Why would you want to avoid using a struct? Add a macro that declares the appropriate struct and get at least a tiny bit of type checking.
With some clever use of _Generic you could even build specialised functions for that type and get pretty good type checking
In C23 this approach is nice, but in older versions of C we end up with awful macros where we need to define the structure before we use it.
C23 has relaxed rules for redefining the same struct, so we can avoid having to create the struct up front.capacity isn't stored at all. Instead, it's computed on demand when the length of the vec is either zero or a power of two.
Brilliant insight. This is the first time I've seen this observation in over 3 decades of working with C.
It’s not so brilliant when you have an array of size 2^n and you append and then pop off the end in a loop and each operation takes time proportional to the length of the vector.
Usually, dynamic arrays aim for amortized constant time for append and pop. This trick loses that property.
Restoring it only needs one additional bit of storage, however (whether the buffer is currently 2⌊n/2⌋ or 4⌊n/2⌋ elements in size), which we can probably squeeze in somewhere.
More disappointing is that libc still forces us to use the free(p) API, without a length argument, meaning we are still paying to store a(n approximation of) the length somewhere in the allocation metadata.
It doesn’t really work though for generic vectors. If you support not just vec_push but vec_pop as well, then you really do need to store capacity separately or else call realloc way more often than you normally need to.
That may be true, but it may also mean you utilize more memory than you need to. If you aren't shrinking the array when you no longer need previously allocated capacity then you're wasting memory. You could end up with an array of 10 elements and an allocation of 2^10.
The capacity as bit_ceil(len) ensures that at most, half of the allocated space is wasted - excess space is O(n).
Really? It's been done plenty and I thought was quite common knowledge. Some of the <stdbit.h> provided functions are basically for this purpose.
stdc_bit_ceil(len) gets the smallest power of 2 not less than len, which is our capacity. This is usually implemented with a clz instruction.
stdc_has_single_bit(len) determines if it's a power of 2 - typically implemented with a popcount instruction (popcount(len)==1).
The approach isn't used in older (90s and earlier) texts because hardware support for popcount/clz wasn't commonplace and the cost to do it in software wasn't worth it, but it is mentioned in some texts.
I think it was sarcasm. I have about as much experience as them in low-level C programming, and I was wondering why this is on front page. I've also discovered again a few things too, so I won't look down on OP. It's certainly better than vibe coding.
No, I'm being serious.
I know about XOR-linked lists and a few other tricks for very efficient memory usage in embedded systems, but it's my first time seeing implicit allocation lengths.
Everyone knows about bit-fiddling functions, what the poster was referring to is using this trick to not have to store the capacity for a dynamic vector. Which is genuinely very clever and rare, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done quite like this either. I think that’s probably because it’s not really that good of an idea, if the vector can shrink, you really should store the capacity.
I don't think it's that rare. I've been using the technique for years, and I've seen it done in other work. Bagwell's VList[1] for example uses the equivalent of `bit_ceil` to determine the size of each block without having to store it - and there are earlier works based on the same trick. RAOTS, which is referenced by the VList, mentions using the technique, but itself uses a slightly more complex trick where we can calculate the size of a block based on the approx square root of the length.
You can use the trick if the array can shrink as long as you always shrink the allocation when length goes below the next power of 2 not greater than len (which may make use of stdc_bit_floor).
[1]:https://cl-pdx.com/static/techlists.pdf
Ignoring multiple evaluation, one can also #define stdc_has_single_bit(X) !((X) & ((X)-1)). If X isn't a power of two, the -1 will leave the MSB in place.
https://github.com/gritzko/libabc/blob/main/Sx.h
https://github.com/gritzko/libabc/blob/main/S.md
ABC uses s[2] for slices, g[3] for gauges, b[4] for (ring) buffers. Also containers on top of those (heaps, hash sets, etc etc)
> First of all, structs aren't used so you don't have to invent names for them (e.g. there is no IntVec)
But since it’s storing a void pointer any way, they wouldn’t need separate names right? You could use one struct everywhere regardless of the type of the items
Which IMO is a better idea than using an array here because the fields can be properly named and typed to prevent accidental misuse
If you use a struct with a `void*`, you also need to specify the type on usage, where here it's done with `typeof`.
Enjoy the annoying-to-debug errors when someone inevitably mixes arr[0] with arr[1] and tramples the heap (this could be mitigated by accessing the fields with macros), or writes arr[3] because they forgot this is not a regular array.
That's pretty clever code. Too clever for my tastes.
Strictly speaking, the capacity is still stored internally to the allocation (it needs to be, in order to implement realloc)
You don't, as the capacity is always the next power of 2 of the length.
This is just silly. You can't even reserve capacity because you only store size and capacity is implicitly the next power of 2 >= size.
The concept of not storing capacity isn't silly. If you need to reserve space then it's not the appropriate structure, but it's otherwise fine.
However, using an 2-element array to avoid using a struct is silly.