Re: Coding standards proposal, usage of "this"

[Andrew Burgess <andrew.burgess@embecosm.com>]

* Luis Machado via Gdb-patches <gdb-patches@sourceware.org> [2021-08-16 14:23:42 -0300]:

> On 8/16/21 2:11 PM, Simon Marchi via Gdb-patches wrote:
> > On 2021-08-16 1:06 p.m., John Baldwin wrote:
> > > On 8/13/21 7:26 AM, Simon Marchi via Gdb-patches wrote:
> > > > Hi all,
> > > > 
> > > > Here's something I had in mind for a while.  We don't consistently use
> > > > `this` when referring to fields or methods of the current object.  I
> > > > never now if I should use it or not, or point it out in review.  I
> > > > therefore propose these rules so that we have something to refer to.
> > > > 
> > > >    - Use `this` when referring to a data member that is not prefixed by
> > > >      `m_`.  Rationale: without `this`, it's not clear that you are
> > > >      referring to a member of the current class, versus a local or global
> > > >      variable.
> > > >    - Don't use `this` when referring to a data member that is prefixed by
> > > >      `m_`.  Rationale: the prefix already makes it clear that you are
> > > >      referring to a member of the current class, so adding `this` would
> > > >      just add noise.
> > > 
> > > These seem fine to me.
> > > 
> > > >    - Use `this` when referring to a method of the current class.
> > > >      Rationale: without `this, it's not clear that you are referring to a
> > > >      method of the current class, versus a free function.
> > > 
> > > This one feels a bit odd to me, though it may just be something I'm not
> > > used to.  It is something I haven't seen used before in C++ at least.
> > 
> > So, the first two seem to be more accepted, and this last one less.  I'd
> > be fine just going with the first two then (even though in my opinion
> > the reason for using `this` to refer to a non-prefixed data member
> > applies the same when referring to a non-prefied member function).
> 
> My 2 cents. I wouldn't mind the change, but having to remember when to use
> "this" and when not to use it is worse to me than spending a couple minutes
> trying to figure out why the code is the way it is.

Except most code is written once, and debugged many times.  So in the
long run it's much more efficient to spend a minute longer writing
the code, even if it saves just a few seconds off reading (and
understanding) the code.

IMHO, of course :)

Thanks,
Andrew