Thread: Generic List Functions

I have a linked list of 'ball' objects and a function to add new balls to the list. I also have a 'letter' object, which now has its own function to add letters to that objects list. Is there anyway that I could recode this as a generic function to handle any object? It would save a lot of repetitive code.

Code:

/***************************************************************/
struct ball
{
    float x, y;
    float dx, dy;
    int rad;
    struct ball *next;
}; typedef struct ball ball;

ball *NewBall(ball **head)
{
    ball *newnode;
    if(!(newnode = malloc(sizeof(*newnode))))
        return NULL;
    
    newnode->next=*head; 
    *head = newnode;     
    return newnode;
}
/***************************************************************/
struct letter
{
    float x, y;

    char ch;
    struct letter *next;
}; typedef struct letter letter;

letter *NewLetter(letter **head)
{
    letter *newnode;

    if(!(newnode = malloc(sizeof(*newnode))))
        return NULL;
    
    newnode->next=*head; 
    *head = newnode;    
    return newnode;
}
/***************************************************************/

Yeah, maybe repeating the code for each object type would be best after all. Having them all on one giant list seems messy. Although I guess the list could be split up. I hadent really considered that originally, thanks for the explanation.

You could even make the add new function as generic by

Code:

void * AddNewNode(void *, int);

But in this function definition you need to typecast it to appropriate struct every time. Which would he messy.

ssharish2005