Re: "ls -l": Avoid unnecessary getxattr() overhead

[Jim Meyering]

Bernhard Voelker wrote:
...
>> +static dev_t selinux_challenged_device;
>
> Having worked with different compilers, I would rather like to see such
> variables to be initialized.
...

Depending on static-scoped variables to be initialized to 0
is so fundamental, and has been that way forever, if
you've seen a compiler that gets it wrong, it could not have
been good for anything other than (poor) demonstration purposes.

In any declaration like "static int VAR = 0;" the "= 0" part is
strictly optional, even from a let's-be-ultra-portable standpoint.
At least as far as I know.  Can you provide details on a compiler
that gets that wrong?

You can argue that it makes the code slightly more readable,
especially if one fails to notice the "static" part.

I just checked and see that there are plenty of instances in coreutils:

  git grep -E 'static.* = (0|NULL);'

but most are in the dustier corners, and there are well over 200
that omit the initializer.

  src/cat.c:static int newlines2 = 0;
  src/csplit.c:static struct buffer_record *head = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static char *hold_area = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static size_t hold_count = 0;
  src/csplit.c:static uintmax_t last_line_number = 0;
  src/csplit.c:static uintmax_t current_line = 0;
  src/csplit.c:static char *volatile filename_space = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static char const *volatile prefix = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static char *volatile suffix = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static unsigned int volatile files_created = 0;
  src/csplit.c:static FILE *output_stream = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:static char *output_filename = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:  static struct buffer_record *prev_buf = NULL;
  src/csplit.c:  static size_t control_allocated = 0; /* Total space allocated. 
*/
  src/csplit.c:  static uintmax_t last_val = 0;
  src/dd.c:static char const *input_file = NULL;
  src/dd.c:static char const *output_file = NULL;
  src/dd.c:static size_t input_blocksize = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t output_blocksize = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t conversion_blocksize = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t skip_records = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t skip_bytes = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t seek_records = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t seek_bytes = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t max_bytes = 0;
  src/dd.c:static int conversions_mask = 0;
  src/dd.c:static int input_flags = 0;
  src/dd.c:static int output_flags = 0;
  src/dd.c:static int status_flags = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t w_partial = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t w_full = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t r_partial = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t r_full = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t w_bytes = 0;
  src/dd.c:static uintmax_t r_truncate = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t oc = 0;
  src/dd.c:static size_t col = 0;
  src/dd.c:  static size_t pending_spaces = 0;
  src/du.c:static char const *time_style = NULL;
  src/du.c:static char const *time_format = NULL;
  src/factor.c:static mpz_t *factor = NULL;
  src/factor.c:static size_t nfactors_found = 0;
  src/factor.c:static size_t nfactors_allocated = 0;
  src/fold.c:  static char *line_out = NULL;
  src/fold.c:  static size_t allocated_out = 0;
  src/id.c:static int just_context = 0;
  src/id.c:static security_context_t context = NULL;
  src/install.c:static int selinux_enabled = 0;
  src/ls.c:static struct color_ext_type *color_ext_list = NULL;
  src/nl.c:static struct re_pattern_buffer *current_regex = NULL;
  src/nl.c:static char *header_del = NULL;
  src/nl.c:static char *body_del = NULL;
  src/nl.c:static char *footer_del = NULL;
  src/nl.c:static char *print_no_line_fmt = NULL;
  src/nl.c:  static intmax_t blank_lines = 0;   /* Consecutive blank lines so 
far. */
  src/od.c:static uintmax_t n_bytes_to_skip = 0;
  src/pinky.c:  static time_t now = 0;
  src/pr.c:static int chars_per_margin = 0;
  src/pr.c:static uintmax_t first_page_number = 0;
  src/pr.c:static int files_ready_to_read = 0;
  src/pr.c:static int total_files = 0;
  src/pr.c:static int col_sep_length = 0;
  src/ptx.c:static const char *break_file = NULL;       /* name of the 'Break 
chars' file */
  src/ptx.c:static const char *only_file = NULL;        /* name of the 'Only 
words' file */
  src/ptx.c:static const char *ignore_file = NULL;      /* name of the 'Ignore 
words' file */
  src/tac.c:  static size_t bytes_in_buffer = 0;
  src/tac.c:  static char *tempfile = NULL;
  src/test.c:   static int test_error_return = 0;
  src/tsort.c:static struct item *head = NULL;
  src/tsort.c:static struct item *zeros = NULL;
  src/tsort.c:static struct item *loop = NULL;
  src/tsort.c:static size_t n_strings = 0;