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From: guy@sun.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.lang.c
Subject: Re: microsoft C considered stupid
Message-ID: <4326@sun.uucp>
Date: Sat, 21-Jun-86 00:13:52 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.4326
Posted: Sat Jun 21 00:13:52 1986
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Jun-86 07:22:53 EDT
References: <1986Jun20.01:10:46.477@utcs.uucp>
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 26

> 1. They have instituted a pre-processor conditional of the form
> 	#if defined(MANIFEST_CONSTANT).  Furthermore, the manual notes that
> 	use of #ifdef is "discouraged" (though at least they support it).
> 	Here in net.lang.c several C revision proposals have been rejected on
> 	the grounds that they don't add enough to the language to merit the
> 	inconvenience of a change.

Microsoft didn't institute this.  John Reiser did when he was at Bell Labs.
This feature has been in UNIX since Version 7, and has been documented since
System V.  It is also in the ANSI C draft standard.

> This change from #ifdef adds absolutely nothing to the language!

Wrong.  You can't say

	#ifdef FOO || BAR

to include code if FOO or BAR is defined, but you can say

	#if defined(FOO) || defined(BAR)

This is useful, and has in fact been used in a number of programs.
-- 
	Guy Harris
	{ihnp4, decvax, seismo, decwrl, ...}!sun!guy
	guy@sun.com (or guy@sun.arpa)