K&R question

I am reading the second edition of this great book and I have a question about a function that can be found on page 69. Here is the function:

Code:

---

int getline(char s[], int lim)
{
    int c, i;
   
    i = 0;
    while (--lim > 0 && (c = getchar()) != EOF && c != '\n')
        s[i++] = c;
    if (c == '\n')
        s[i++] = c;
    s[i] = '\0';
    return i;
}

---

Why, instead of writing the code highlighted in red the authors did not just write something like this?

Code:

---

while (--lim > 0 && (c = getchar()) != EOF)
    ...

---

Thanks.

Because to get a line, you should stop at a newline. And if it way a newline, and was not EOF or limit, the newline is post-fixed to the buffer.

Because then the newline would be part of the s string and then it would keep looping. He wants the loop to stop at newlines. For instance, if I wrote:

"Hello World!\nHow are you?"

Without that line, the s string would read

"Hello World!\nHow are you?"

with it, after the if statement, it reads

"Hello World!\n"