Re: [PATCH 3/3] Documentation: document difference between release and free

[Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im>]

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On Wed, Jul 24, 2024 at 04:46:20AM -0700, Karthik Nayak wrote:
> Patrick Steinhardt <ps@pks.im> writes:
> 
> > We semi-regularly have discussions around whether a function shall be
> > named `release()` or `free()`. For most of the part we use these two
> > terminologies quite consistently though:
> >
> 
> I noticed there is also `clear()` used in some places. Should we also
> mention that we don't recommend using `clear()` WRT freeing memory?

In any case I think we should decide on eithe using `clear()` or using
`release()` for consistency's sake. Which of both  we use I don't quite
care, but the following very shoddy analysis clearly favors `release()`:

    $ git grep '_clear(' | wc -l
    844
    $ git grep '_release(' | wc -l
    2126

So yeah, I'm happy to explicitly mention that `clear()` shouldn't be
used in favor of `release()`.

Patrick

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