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From: ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig)
Newsgroups: net.lang.c,net.unix-wizards
Subject: Re: varargs
Message-ID: <5388@alice.uUCp>
Date: Fri, 2-May-86 17:14:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: alice.5388
Posted: Fri May  2 17:14:00 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 3-May-86 20:18:54 EDT
References: <236@chronon.chronon.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Labs, Murray Hill
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Xref: watmath net.lang.c:8808 net.unix-wizards:17907

I think people are confusing two different meanings for the same term:

	1. the practice of writing programs that accept varying
	numbers of actual parameters by declaring a single formal
	parameter, taking its address, and incrementing that
	address in various devious ways.

	2. the practice of writing programs that accept varying
	numbers of actual parameters and access them using ONLY the
	facilities provided by <varargs.h> .  The particular
	implementation of these facilities may differ from one
	machine to another.

I said I don't know offhand of a machine that can't implement #2.
I am being deluged by descriptions of machines that can't implement #1.