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From: mckenney@sparkyfs.istc.sri.com (Paul Mckenney)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: // and phases of translation
Message-ID: <32392@sparkyfs.istc.sri.com>
Date: 4 Jul 90 19:19:10 GMT
References: <1580@io.UUCP> <804@mwtech.UUCP> <32374@sparkyfs.istc.sri.com> <278@taumet.com>
Reply-To: mckenney@itstd.sri.com (Paul E. McKenney)
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Lines: 30

In article <278@taumet.com> steve@taumet.UUCP (Stephen Clamage) writes:
>I am mystified by the continuing arguments in this thread.  The semantics
>of allowing //-comments to go to the end of the line except when they
>don't go to the end of the line seem pretty strange to me.  C++ does
>still have /*...*/ comments, please recall, and this comment form does
>precisely what is wanted without requiring odd semantic interpretations.
>So if you must use complex macros in C++, and if you must have internal
>comments in them, just use /*...*/ comments.  This always has worked
>and always will work.

//-comments are currently defined (Ellis & Stroustrup) to go to the end of
the line, except when they go past the end of the line.  This seems quite
strange to me.  In constrast, having the effect of a //-comment end just
before the first subsequent newline or escaped newline seems quite simple
and natural.  It preserves a major advantage of the //-comment -- the end
of the comment is immediately obvious; the human reader need never painfully
scrutinize the code to find out where the comment ends.

Of course, I -could- use /*...*/ comments exclusively.  I do use them for
large boxed comments, mostly because I have templates for these from
years of C programming.  I also use them inside of the occasional large,
complex macro, since I have no real choice (I refuse to leave such macros
uncommented!!!).  However, I much prefer the //-comments, and am very happy
that they are in the language.  I just wish that they were better integrated.

>I dunno.  Maybe I'm too simple-minded.

Or maybe I am expecting too much gratuitous consistency and ease of use.

					Thanx, Paul