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From: paul@dual.UUCP (Baker)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: The wonders of C
Message-ID: <967@dual.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 16:21:06 EST
Article-I.D.: dual.967
Posted: Mon Mar 18 16:21:06 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 20-Mar-85 03:50:37 EST
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Organization: Dual Systems, Berkeley, CA
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> > I was reading Creative Computing when I saw the most bogus C programming
> > example.  The author was comparing C to Basic-
> > 	Basic: if A=1 and B=1 goto 104950393040 [:->
> > 	C: if (A==1 & B==1) foobar();
> > Which works, of course, but it was clear from the context that the author
> > thought that '&' and logical AND were identical!!!!  -- Mark Roddy
> 
> It doesn't work if A == 1 and B == 3.  It calls foobar when it shouldn't.

But then the whole point of C is to make it easy to commit errors which
superficially look correct, compile without a whimper and yet are totally
wrong.  For example "if (X!=1)" ... compiles just as well as "if (x|=1)".
On many terminals "|" and "!" are almost indistinguishable. "if (x<>1)
would have been incredibly easier to understand, but, oh no, other people
had used this and so was obviously unacceptable.

Paul Wilcox-Baker.