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From: vd09+@andrew.cmu.edu (Vincent M. Del Vecchio)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Seven Original Sins of K&R (Long)
Message-ID: <sazwbR600Vp6IHhVVV@andrew.cmu.edu>
Date: 25 Sep 90 21:19:25 GMT
Organization: Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 27

> Excerpts from netnews.comp.lang.c: 25-Sep-90 Seven Original Sins of K&R
> .. Craig Mautner@odin.ucsd. (8365)

> None of these sins is inconsistent with the philosophy 
> of C.  We needn't embrace heresies like Pascal, Modula 
> 2 or Ada.  But we must abandon the false god of 100% 
> upward compatibility.  We must tear down the old temple 
> to build a new one.  Then, and only then, will our 
> redemption be at hand.


I don't know about this.  There are (unfortunately) still so many
pre-ANSI compilers and so much pre-ANSI code (not to mention code that
depends on the existence of the other "sins" that you mentioned) in use
that it would be ridiculous for the time being to abandon backward
compatibility.  I like in general the style of the gcc, accepting both
older and newer code with command-line switches to specify explicitly
one or the other.  But pre-ANSI code will be around for a good while to
come.

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