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From: michels@cs.UAlberta.CA (Michael Michels)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: C's sins of commission (was: (pssst...fortran?))
Message-ID: <michels.653892230@menaik>
Date: 21 Sep 90 04:43:50 GMT
References: <9009202236.AA21344@raven.pa.dec.com> <63647@lanl.gov>
Sender: news@cs.UAlberta.CA (News Administrator)
Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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To put this discussion about C back in the "futures" group I
would like to present here my two words or 64 bits on my machine
as Jim Giles would prefer it :-).

I like C because it alows me to do things I want and am paid to do
in nice and easy way.  If I want my code anylized to death then I
can use 'lint' or "syntax" options on the compiler.  If I want my code
stay as it is my C compiler lets me do it.  Why should I be forced
to write my programs in a cryptic form just because someone else
has a different opinion.

As already mentioned before there are other
languages that are better for other tasks but for writing system
routines and compilers I cannot imagine a better one.
I would like to se Jim Giles to write that sort of code in any
of the solutions that he proposed :-).

Actually that all may change now that the ANSI started to play with it.
I thing that one "ADA" is enough :-). Besides C like any other
language evolves and changes as the times change.
To standarize it and stop it from evolving is the same as killing it
and I would not like to see it happen.

Other aspect that was touched on was the "wonderfull" role of optimizers.
Sure, they are getting "better" all the time but when I hear that
the compiler ignores the "register" modifier I get upset.  It is like
someone telling you that automatic optimazation can do better job than you can.
My view on this subject is that if someone wants to drive TOYOTA let them
but if I want to build a FERRARI I should be allowed as well.

In any futaristic languages I would like to see the same things that
I like about C.  I want to be able to write my programs that do the job
and are short and easy to understand.  I guess that is the same thing that
Gorge Orwell said about writing. Why should writing programs be any different?

Michael Michels