cpython/abstract.h not compatible with C90

[petere]

BPO	39615
Nosy	@ericvsmith, @benjaminp, @petere, @serhiy-storchaka
PRs	bpo-39615: Make cpython/abstract.h compatible with C90 #18481

^{Note: these values reflect the state of the issue at the time it was migrated and might not reflect the current state.}

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GitHub fields:

assignee = None
closed_at = <Date 2020-02-13.02:00:28.910>
created_at = <Date 2020-02-12.11:55:07.068>
labels = ['interpreter-core', 'invalid', '3.9']
title = 'cpython/abstract.h not compatible with C90'
updated_at = <Date 2020-03-24.10:30:42.551>
user = 'https://github.com/petere'

bugs.python.org fields:

activity = <Date 2020-03-24.10:30:42.551>
actor = 'petere'
assignee = 'none'
closed = True
closed_date = <Date 2020-02-13.02:00:28.910>
closer = 'benjamin.peterson'
components = ['Interpreter Core']
creation = <Date 2020-02-12.11:55:07.068>
creator = 'petere'
dependencies = []
files = []
hgrepos = []
issue_num = 39615
keywords = ['patch']
message_count = 7.0
messages = ['361880', '361884', '361914', '361915', '361928', '364153', '364923']
nosy_count = 4.0
nosy_names = ['eric.smith', 'benjamin.peterson', 'petere', 'serhiy.storchaka']
pr_nums = ['18481']
priority = 'normal'
resolution = 'not a bug'
stage = 'resolved'
status = 'closed'
superseder = None
type = None
url = 'https://bugs.python.org/issue39615'
versions = ['Python 3.9']

[petere]

Some inline functions use mixed declarations and code. These end up visible in third-party code that includes Python.h, which might not be using a C99 compiler.

Example:

In file included from /Users/peter/python-builds/3.9/include/python3.9/abstract.h:843,
from /Users/peter/python-builds/3.9/include/python3.9/Python.h:147,
from plpython.h:59,
from plpy_typeio.h:10,
from plpy_cursorobject.h:8,
from plpy_cursorobject.c:14:
/Users/peter/python-builds/3.9/include/python3.9/cpython/abstract.h:74:5: warning: ISO C90 forbids mixed declarations and code [-Wdeclaration-after-statement]
74 | Py_ssize_t offset = tp->tp_vectorcall_offset;
| ^~~~~~~~~~

[ericvsmith]

PEP-7 says that this is allowed:

Python versions greater than or equal to 3.6 use C89 with several select C99 features:
...

• intermingled declarations

So I don't think these changes should be accepted.

[petere]

That's fair for code internal to CPython itself, but these are header files included by third-party code that is embedding Python, so a bit more flexibility and adaptability would be welcome there.

[ericvsmith]

I'd suggest mentioning this on python-dev, if you want to change the policy.

[benjaminp]

C99 is not disallowed in headers.

[serhiy-storchaka]

I think we should distinguish minimal supported C standard for compiling CPython itself and for compiling extensions. We can use all C99 features supported by main compilers in the code of CPython, but C99 is not even compatible with C++, and it may be not compatible with extensions written in other languages (D, Rust, Go, etc), so I think we should use more restricted version in headers.

[petere]

3.9.0a5 fixes my original issue. Thanks.