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Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!harpo!eagle!allegra!alan
From: alan@allegra.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: Argument typechecking vs. PRINTF et al
Message-ID: <1824@allegra.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Sep-83 19:38:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: allegra.1824
Posted: Wed Sep 14 19:38:42 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Sep-83 06:22:17 EDT
References: umcp-cs.2542, <2012@yale-com.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
Lines: 18


	My only suggestion would be that ... this need not and should
	not be done by the compiler ...


I think you missed an important point.  The compiler, armed with this
information, would be able to coerce arguments to the correct type.
This would make it possible to say

	f(1);

without knowing or caring whether f is expecting an int, a short, or
a long.  In this way, the programmer would be relieved of a tedious
responsibility, and a potential source of errors.


	Alan Driscoll
	Bell Labs, Murray Hill