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From: phipps@fortune.UUCP (Clay Phipps)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Subset C Standards / Re: Linkers - Next Frontier?
Message-ID: <3784@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 11-Jul-84 20:21:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: fortune.3784
Posted: Wed Jul 11 20:21:10 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 12-Jul-84 05:25:59 EDT
References: <1476@pegasus.UUCP>
Organization: Fortune Systems, Redwood City, CA
Lines: 37

A two level standard seems like a good idea,
and there are many precedents for it:

    ANS FORTRAN & FORTRAN 77: 
	"Full" and "Subset" languages. 
    FIPS (a government designation) COBOL: 
	"Low", "Intermediate", "High" levels.
    ANS PL/I:
	[whatever "full PL/I" is called] and "General Subset PL/I".
    ISO Pascal:
	Levels 0 and 1 (1 is essentially level 0 + "conformant arrays").
    Ada:
	no subsetting allowed by DoD AJPO, 
	but one has been repeatedly suggested from numerous quarters.

I agree that without some specific reason to improve on six-character 
external names, some compiler people and management will either 
not bother at all, or devise some cast-in-concrete inadequate improvement.
Have you ever tried to convince management with a "just meet the spec,
we're in a hurry" attitude to let you expend the effort 
to do something better than a standard calls for ?  I have (not here, btw);
it's frustrating.  It really helps to be able to point to a standard 
of some kind.

Consider the marketing advantage in being able to advertise
your C compiler as being "full C" instead of your competitor's "subset C".
Similarly, there could be a procurement advantage that allows you
to buy a better compiler that is more expensive than "low bid".
This seems to be a really big deal with COBOL compilers,
and could be with C.

-- Clay Phipps

-- 
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