Names Safe to Use

There are four simple rules you can follow to keep from colliding with any ANSI/ISO C reserved names:

• #include all system headers at the top of your source files (except possibly after a #define of _POSIX_SOURCE or _XOPEN_SOURCE, or both).

• Do not define or declare any names that begin with an underscore.

• Use an underscore or a capital letter somewhere within the first few characters of all file scope tags and regular names. Beware of the va_ prefix found in stdarg.h or varargs.h.

• Use a digit or a non-capital letter somewhere within the first few characters of all macro names. Almost all names beginning with an E are reserved if errno.h is #included.

These rules are just a general guideline to follow, as most implementations will continue to add names to the standard headers by default.