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From: torek@elf.ee.lbl.gov (Chris Torek)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Grouse: What's the point of enum?
Message-ID: <12236@dog.ee.lbl.gov>
Date: 18 Apr 91 18:45:16 GMT
References: <gu1k13w164w@cellar.UUCP> <1991Apr18.153418.13527@zoo.toronto.edu>
Reply-To: torek@elf.ee.lbl.gov (Chris Torek)
Organization: Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley
Lines: 17
X-Local-Date: Thu, 18 Apr 91 11:45:16 PDT

>>[enumerated types are ridiculously weak; why do they exist at all?]

In article <1991Apr18.153418.13527@zoo.toronto.edu> henry@zoo.toronto.edu
(Henry Spencer) writes:
>Just ignoring them is the simplest thing to do.

It is sometimes nice to have a symbolic debugger print

	state = TCPSTATE_ESTABLISHED

or whatever, and it is sometimes nice to allow the compiler to choose
the types and values of enumeration variables and constants.  A few
compilers will also warn about `mixed up' enumerations (enum apple
with enum orange).  That makes three tiny points in favour :-)
-- 
In-Real-Life: Chris Torek, Lawrence Berkeley Lab CSE/EE (+1 415 486 5427)
Berkeley, CA		Domain:	torek@ee.lbl.gov