Losing the magic [LWN.net]

https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/915163/ba83480903b82cb8/ · The kernel project is now more than three decades old; over that time, a number of development practices have come and gone. Once upon a time, the use of "magic numbers" to identify kernel data structures was seen as a good way to help detect and debug problems. Over the years, though, the use of magic numbers has gone into decline; this patch set from Ahelenia Ziemiańska may be an indication that the reign of magic numbers may be reaching its end.