Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!philmtl!ray From: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: (* func)(fred, bert) Message-ID: <879@philmtl.philips.ca> Date: 1 Dec 89 15:48:52 GMT References: <2387@stl.stc.co.uk> <744@lakart.UUCP> <0175@sheol.UUCP> <11664@smoke.BRL.MIL> <1736@l.cc.purdue.edu> <9861@saturn.ucsc.edu> Reply-To: ray@philmtl.philips.ca (Ray Dunn) Organization: Philips Electronics Ltd. - St. Laurent P.Q., Canada Lines: 27 In article: <9861@saturn.ucsc.edu> Written by: sidney@saturn.ucsc.edu (Sidney Markowitz ) >In article <1736@l.cc.purdue.edu> cik@l.cc.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes: >>To get 100% portable code, it is necessary to be absolutely sure that >>the same results occur in all installations, [...etc. ...] > >Real programs have a purpose, and 100% portable code merely has to >achieve that purpose on any system for which the purpose makes sense. Hmmm. I think if you had been following the discussion more carefully you would have realized that that is exactly the point that Herman was trying to make. To quote his last line in the posting you quote: >> Only rarely should such expensive portability be considered. >Maybe these notions of practicality are unfamiliar to one in the >rarified world of academic mathematics. Not as rarified it would seem, as on saturn... >-- sidney markowitz -- Ray Dunn. | UUCP: ray@philmt.philips.ca Philips Electronics Ltd. | ..!{uunet|philapd|philabs}!philmtl!ray 600 Dr Frederik Philips Blvd | TEL : (514) 744-8200 Ext : 2347 (Phonemail) St Laurent. Quebec. H4M 2S9 | FAX : (514) 744-6455 TLX : 05-824090