Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!rutgers!cmcl2!kramden.acf.nyu.edu!brnstnd
From: brnstnd@kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc
Subject: Re: Fortran vs. C for numerical work - expression notation
Message-ID: <1497:Dec1000:15:4990@kramden.acf.nyu.edu>
Date: 10 Dec 90 00:15:49 GMT
References: <16799@csli.Stanford.EDU> <8366@lanl.gov>
Organization: IR
Lines: 25

In article <8366@lanl.gov> jlg@lanl.gov (Jim Giles) writes:
> There are 40+ operators in C and 15 precedence levels. 

So what? There are a zillion operators in mathematics, and nobody even
agrees on the precedence levels. You solve this in math papers the same
way as in programs: you put in extra parentheses wherever you think
anyone might get confused. This is perfectly natural and doesn't waste
time.

> Almost
> none of this matches any notational or precedence convention in any
> known problem domain.

Actually, the function notation in C matches mathematical notation quite
well. Think about how the Laplace operator interacts with evaluation at
a point, for example. MDAS and its extensions work. Past that I just use
parentheses.

> Further, there are several specific experimental results regarding
> side-effects - specifically that assignment should be a statement
> level operator and _not_ an expression level operator.

What studies are you referring to?

---Dan