Xref: utzoo comp.lang.c:23231 comp.lang.c++:5201 gnu.g++:469
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!haven!adm!smoke!gwyn
From: gwyn@smoke.BRL.MIL (Doug Gwyn)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,gnu.g++
Subject: Re: A solution to the multiple inclusion problem
Keywords: #include c c++
Message-ID: <11396@smoke.BRL.MIL>
Date: 24 Oct 89 19:46:06 GMT
References: <14240@well.UUCP>
Reply-To: gwyn@brl.arpa (Doug Gwyn)
Organization: Ballistic Research Lab (BRL), APG, MD.
Lines: 14

In article <14240@well.UUCP> nagle@well.UUCP (John Nagle) writes:
>      It's been proposed that the semantics of "#include" be changed to 
>avoid all multiple inclusion.  But this is controversial, and would require
>ANSI approval.

It's not especially controversial, because as you imply it would be a
change to a well-defined characteristic of the C language.  Thus when
it was proposed to X3J11, we had little difficulty in determining that
the proposal must be rejected.  Several people attested to the fact
that they have existing code that requires the existing semantics.

>      I propose a solution via compiler optimization.

Your solution does not at all seem to me to preserve existing semantics.