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From: jack@boring.uucp (Jack Jansen)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: C not LALR(1)
Message-ID: <6741@boring.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 25-Jan-86 14:20:14 EST
Article-I.D.: boring.6741
Posted: Sat Jan 25 14:20:14 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Jan-86 01:38:09 EST
References: <10200035@ada-uts.UUCP>
Reply-To: jack@mcvax.UUCP (Jack Jansen)
Organization: AMOEBA project, CWI, Amsterdam
Lines: 26
Summary: Of *course* not, its not even unambiguous!
Apparently-To: rnews@mcvax


This 'not LALR' business isn't that interesting, since the
C syntax has a few ambiguities. How about this one:

foo(a,b) int a,b; {
    int *p;

    p = &b;
    a = a/*p;
    return(a);
}

Simple, eh? Just returns a/b in a difficult way.
But, did you notice that the routine isn't finished yet?
END OF COMMENT */+1;
    return(a);
}
So, now it is.

Anyway, all C compilers I've ever tested this on will see the
first /* as comment-open (probably somewhere far in the beginning,
in the lexical analyzer or thereabouts), but still, it's not
really what you'ld like to have in a language.....
-- 
	Jack Jansen, jack@mcvax.UUCP
	The shell is my oyster.