Introduction

safe-c is a C module for "safe" (or, at least, "safer") programming in C. It provides a collection of C functions, with related data types and constants. These permit the development of basic C programs, without recourse to the standard C library. Instead, safe-c provides an insulating layer between the novice C programmer and the standard library functions. safe-c adds a variety of additional runtime checks to guard against typical novice errors, and provide intelligible runtime failure reports.

safe-c is not intended to be applied in production software. It is strictly a pedagogical stepping-stone, to be displaced by direct use of the standard C library when the student is ready.

This document provides a User Guide to safe-c. Specifically, it describes each constant, data type, and function, provided by safe-c. It does not provide any information on the rationale for the particular features included in safe-c, nor does it discuss the internal architecture or implementation of safe-c.