Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!sdd.hp.com!think.com!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!bloom-picayune.mit.edu!news From: scs@adam.mit.edu (Steve Summit) Newsgroups: comp.lang.c Subject: Re: Initializing Static Variables Summary: more gallows humor Message-ID: <1991Feb26.050221.6993@athena.mit.edu> Date: 26 Feb 91 05:02:21 GMT References: <13704@hacgate.UUCP> <1991Feb26.014801.29244@athena.mit.edu> <957@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> Sender: news@athena.mit.edu (News system) Reply-To: scs@adam.mit.edu Distribution: usa Organization: Thermal Technologies, Inc. Lines: 19 In article <957@caslon.cs.arizona.edu> dave@cs.arizona.edu (Dave P. Schaumann) writes: >Interesting. I'm just working out "Dave's law of variable non-useability": > An uninitialized variable can be counted on to have a random > value, until such time as a random value will be useful to > the programmer. Then, an uninitialized variable can be counted > on to be zero. Needs work. It should read something like: An uninitialized value can be counted upon to have a non-random value, and in particular a non-random value which will make the program appear to work properly, until such time as all bugs are worked out, the original programmer's back is turned, and someone tries to port the code to another environment, assuming it will be "a simple matter of recompilation..." Steve Summit scs@adam.mit.edu