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From: msf@amelia.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Types
Message-ID: <2529@ames.arpa>
Date: Tue, 18-Aug-87 07:15:30 EDT
Article-I.D.: ames.2529
Posted: Tue Aug 18 07:15:30 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 20-Aug-87 01:23:10 EDT
References: <7264@brl-adm.ARPA> <734@sdchema.sdchem.UUCP> <293@osupyr.UUCP> <847@haddock.ISC.COM> <279@nuchat.UUCP> <2311@mmintl.UUCP>
Sender: usenet@ames.arpa
Reply-To: msf@amelia.UUCP (Michael S. Fischbein)
Organization: NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA
Lines: 31
Summary: C: It isn't just for breakfast

In article <2311@mmintl.UUCP> franka@mmintl.UUCP (Frank Adams) writes:
>  The default compiler settings should cater neither to
>professionals porting code, nor to professionals doing local development,
>but to the occasional or novice programmer, who is trying to get his newly
>written, probably small, program to run.

I must disagree with Mr. Adams.  C is *not* a beginner's language.  I would
agree with his comments were they refering to Pascal or BASIC (two languages
that were designed for programming novices, although many complex professional
programs have been written in them); or FORTRAN (since it is so commonly
used by people who have little or no interest in having to `figure out' the
computer).  C is a powerful language that offers lots of rope for the novice
to hang himself.  THIS IS NOT A BUG, IT IS A FEATURE!  That same flexibility
allows the professional experienced programmer the freedom to do what they
want to do.  C should not cater to novices, there are plenty of double
checking languages out there.  Let the C compiler default to the most
used options by the professionals (which I would hope were the maximum
portability options) and let the novices acquire experience using Pascal.
 
>Professionals should expect to do the work necessary to learn how to use
>their tools to perform the functions they want them to perform.  The tools
>should cater to the novices, without putting an excessive burden on the pro.

This might be true for a $20 drill, but I doubt a $200K milling machine
is optimized for a high school shop class.  That IS an excessive burden.

	mike
Michael Fischbein                 msf@prandtl.nas.nasa.gov
                                  ...!seismo!decuac!csmunix!icase!msf
These are my opinions and not necessarily official views of any
organization.