On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 1:07 PM, katja <katjavetter@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wed, Oct 19, 2016 at 4:25 PM, Jonathan Wilkes <jancsika@yahoo.com> wrote:
> When implemented in C, which approach takes the least amount of time
> to read, reason about, and fully comprehend?

That is an important question. Pd code is full of clever tricks and
bit hacks for dsp efficiency. What is the origin of q8_rsqrt(), why
and how does it work? What about PD_BIGORSMALL() in m_pd.h? And the
mysterious UNITBIT32 number in d_osc.c? Ideally such code should be
commented not only to denote its function (if necessary) but also to
reference the origin so you may be able to find info.


I agree that Pd's code is very sparsely commented. I imagine Miller keeps another copy with all the comments.
I was mystified by UNITBIT32 as well. I tried to explain it in the comments of my sqosc~ object at
https://sourceforge.net/p/pure-data/svn/HEAD/tree/trunk/externals/mrpeach/sqosc%7E/sqosc%7E.c


Martin