Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!decwrl!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!dgp.toronto.edu!flaps
From: flaps@dgp.toronto.edu (Alan J Rosenthal)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Re: THINK C Suggestions
Message-ID: <1990Oct9.111049.28398@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu>
Date: 9 Oct 90 15:10:49 GMT
References: <20912@well.sf.ca.us> <1990Oct7.232419.20984@ida.liu.se> <1990Oct8.154744.15837@nntp-server.caltech.edu> <1990Oct9.020415.16763@eng.umd.edu>
Lines: 12

russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) writes:
>>(The reason why '->>' should be used instead of '-->' is because it
>>shows up better, and it would not be parsed as a post-decrement
>>greater-than combination.)
>
>No, instead as minus shift right.  You can't win.

Nope, the rule for C, known as the "maximal munch" rule, is that the lexer
tries, from left to right, to grab as many characters as possible for the one
token.  So "->>" becomes "->" ">".  Since these are both always binary, it's
always a syntax error currently.  (However, I think language extensions like
the one proposed here are usually a mistake.)