Is there a better way to do C style error handling?

Question

I\'m trying to learn C by writing a simple parser / compiler. So far its been a very enlightening experience, however coming from a strong background in C# I\'m having some pro

Answer 1

A goto statement is the easiest and potentially cleanest way to implement exception style processing. Using a macro makes it easier to read if you include the comparison logic inside the macro args. If you organize the routines to perform normal (i.e. non-error) work and only use the goto on exceptions, it is fairly clean for reading. For example:

/* Exception macro */
#define TRY_EXIT(Cmd)   { if (!(Cmd)) {goto EXIT;} }

/* My memory allocator */
char * MyAlloc(int bytes)
{
    char * pMem = NULL;

    /* Must have a size */
    TRY_EXIT( bytes > 0 );

    /* Allocation must succeed */
    pMem = (char *)malloc(bytes);
    TRY_EXIT( pMem != NULL );

    /* Initialize memory */
    TRY_EXIT( initializeMem(pMem, bytes) != -1 );

    /* Success */
    return (pMem);

EXIT:

    /* Exception: Cleanup and fail */
    if (pMem != NULL)
        free(pMem);

    return (NULL);
}