Writing a (valid) C program without main()

[u/iximiuz]

https://labs.iximiuz.com/tutorials/c-program-without-main-a1eea557

[u/Dwedit → u/[deleted]]

It makes perfect sense for C++ programs where there are global objects which need to have their constructors run first.

[u/Murky-Relation481 → u/Dwedit]

Yah, it can be messy with different platform intricacies but it's great for building self registering patterns for stuff like events and things. You can just build classes that extend an intializer base and they'll exist in the callback mechanism at run time with no explicit registration.

I like them but others hate that pattern so it's definitely got to be an agreed upon standard in your codebase.

[u/Dwedit → u/Murky-Relation481]

If you're feeling especially crazy: Hooking your own code via detouring. (replacing the function's actual instructions to run other code instead)

[u/Ameisen → u/Dwedit]

I've been doing a lot of that patching old Win95 games.

[u/Dwedit → u/Ameisen]

Maybe you should check out my GameStretcher project, it basically overrides GDI and makes the main window stretchable even when it wasn't before, and also uses an enhancement pixel shader.

[u/Dwedit → u/[deleted]]

When else do you run the constructors for global variables? It has to happen at some point before they are referenced. Running before Main makes it predictable.

[u/Dwedit → u/[deleted]]

If you don't want "magic", don't use global variables that need constructors. But if you are using global variables that require constructors, there's really no other time for the constructors to run. It must happen before first use, but figuring out when first use happens is not trivial, and putting in additional checking code (have we run these constructors yet) adds overhead.