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From: trb@floyd.UUCP (Andy Tannenbaum)
Newsgroups: net.misc
Subject: Re: new Byte on C
Message-ID: <1887@floyd.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 8-Aug-83 16:49:46 EDT
Article-I.D.: floyd.1887
Posted: Mon Aug  8 16:49:46 1983
Date-Received: Wed, 10-Aug-83 04:47:37 EDT
References: <3137@utzoo.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
Lines: 28

Two points re people's comments on the C Language.

David Hesselberth (of pur-ee) wonders how Byte has the nerve to call C
a medium level language while calling such "lowly" languages as COBOL
and BASIC high level languages.  The term "high level" does not mean
"state of the art" or "clever" in this context.  A high level language
is one which "protects" a user from the intricacies of a computer.  An
octal code program to be entered through the switches (!) is a very low
level language code.  Assembly language is higher, relocatable yet
higher, with macros higher, C higher, BASIC higher, /bin/sh higher.  It
has nothing to do with the elegance of the work done using the language
or the elegance it took to design the language.

Secondly, Henry Spencer (of utzoo) suggests that printf is as ingrained
into C as ls is ingrained into UNIX.  Perhaps he's right, in the sense
that it's there, but a substitute would be just as, if not more,
fitting.  You can't call it C if it uses BEGIN/END instead of curly
brackets (giggle) but you certainly call it C if you are using it to
program a machine that doesn't use printf/scanf etc, especially if
you're using the compiler to program a machine outside the tty
interface environment, like in a controls environment.  Here in Ocean
Systems at Bell Labs, we use C programs with goofy libraries to run
satellite processors in our signal processors.  If you deny that these
processors are running C programs, I will chuckle and shake my head at
your ignorance.  Loosen up your prejudice about C and UNIX a bit, else
you'll strangulate them to death.

	Andy Tannenbaum   Bell Labs  Whippany, NJ   (201) 386-6491