Why I don't like C23 "auto" keyword

The next version of the C standard (C23) brings two new features that I am not enthusiastic about. One of them is the nullptr constant, the other one is the “new” auto keyword¹. I will try to explain why I don’t like it.

The new proposed auto keyword will work basically like in C++. You will for example be able to write:

auto x = 10;
auto ret = function();

Instead of:

int x = 10;
double ret = function();

According to the proposal the main use for this is to simplify macros with generic types. The example they give is this one:

#define dataCondStoreTG(P, E, D)             \
  do {                                       \
    auto* _pr_p = (P);                       \
    auto _pr_expected = (E);                 \
    auto _pr_desired = (D);                  \
    bool _pr_c;                              \
    do {                                     \
      mtx_lock(&_pr_p->mtx);                 \
      _pr_c = (_pr_p->data == _pr_expected); \
      if (_pr_c) _pr_p->data = _pr_desired;  \
      mtx_unlock(&_pr_p->mtx);               \
    }  while(!_pr_c);                        \
  } while (false)

This is a legitimate usage of the feature and I think it has some merit here (though I don’t really understand why typeof could not be used instead). The issue I have is with the name: “auto” is too short and nice, and I am worried that it will be used not just for macros, but everywhere.

C has the nice property that things that are hard to maintain are also hard to write. The language gives you the tools to do all the dirty things you sometimes need², but always makes you pay for it, so that the incisive is to keep the code simple. The new auto keyword seems to go the opposit way: making it easier to write code that is harder to maintain.

Instead of auto I would have preferred if the proposal was to make GNU gcc keywork __auto_type the standard. That would still allows to write generic macro code, but conveys the idea that this should not be abused.

This new feature will make C a little bit less pleasant to work with, and makes me feel like the people working on the language are trying to increase the compatibility with C++, which is of course a lost cause.