Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!rutgers!cbmvax!higgin
From: higgin@cbmvax.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Is this a Manx Bug?
Message-ID: <1319@cbmvax.cbmvax.cbm.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 31-Jan-87 09:30:19 EST
Article-I.D.: cbmvax.1319
Posted: Sat Jan 31 09:30:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Jan-87 20:00:28 EST
References: <958@tekred.TEK.COM>
Reply-To: higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (Paul Higginbottom GUEST)
Organization: PDH, Inc.
Lines: 29
Keywords: auto variables

In article <958@tekred.TEK.COM> joels@tekred.TEK.COM (Joel Swank) writes:
$
$I recently ported a UNIX program to the Amiga. All went well execpt for
$one GURU that was caused by an index that was not initialized to zero
$at every entry to a subroutine. I put in an 'i=0;' and fixed it.
$later I was reading my C manual and it said that all 'auto' variables
$should be automaticly initialized to zero at every entry to the subroutine.
$The UNIX C does this, but Manx does not. Is this a Manx bug?
$
$Joel Swank
$Tektronix, Redmond, Oregon

I don't know what C manual you have, but I've never read anywhere that
automatic variables are initialized.  They're created on the stack and
if you have any big automatic variables on the stack, that's going to be
a LOT of overhead on each call to the function just to zero the memory
used for auto variables.

But anyway, no, Manx code DEFINITELY does not automatically initialize
variables to 0.  Maybe for int's etc it wouldn't be too hard to do this, but
Joel, if you had auto floats and doubles, it would have to put the appropriate
floating point representations of zero onto the stack rather than just
flush it wish zeroes (ick).

	Hope this helps,
		Paul.

Disclaimer: I still work for myself (until Monday) and my opinions are still
just my own.