If I were doing a code review, I would probably accept the code either with or without the assertion. The context of curl_getenv() makes it clear that null is not acceptable. If the author of curl_getenv() had evidence that callers are frequently breaking the contract by passing null, then perhaps the assertion would help shed some light on violators. Otherwise, I would expect everyone to play by the rules, making the assertion unnecessary.

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vintagedave 18 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

That is exactly why you have a precondition or assertion.

If everyone expects specific behavior - ie it’s in the contract - you require that contract.

	▲	hathawsh 13 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Yes, but null pointers are so pervasive in C code that we really can't afford to put assertions everywhere. It's often better to let the app crash on violations.

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favorited 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

It's also just a wrapper around getenv that provides consistent behavior across platforms, and passing a NULL name to the POSIX getenv function is UB.