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From: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: The Principle of Most Astonishment
Message-ID: <996@bsu-cs.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 19-Aug-87 11:30:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: bsu-cs.996
Posted: Wed Aug 19 11:30:55 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Aug-87 02:47:28 EDT
Reply-To: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi)
Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana
Lines: 26
Summary: VMS C

In article <14039@topaz.rutgers.edu> ron@topaz.rutgers.edu (Ron Natalie) writes:
[continuing a discussion about reasonable defaults]
>The default action for the compiler should be to ACT NORMALLY.  ACTING
>NORMALLY means complying with whatever standards might be there.

The VAX/VMS C compiler gives you a choice of warning you against non-
portable constructs or accepting them silently.  The command-line
switch used for this is /STANDARD, and optionally you can add the 
string =NO or =YES after it.

The fun part is this.

If you invoke it as CC it accepts non-portable constructs silently.

If you invoke it as CC /STANDARD it still accepts non-portable
constructs silently.  The compiler assumes that users who type
/STANDARD really meant /STANDARD=NO.

This is the Principle of Most Astonishment at its best.

Consider its potential universal application.  If you typed LOGOUT, you
really meant LOGOUT=NO, so you stay logged in...Experienced users might
tear out their hair, but it would greatly help novice users who often
log out accidentally.  :-)
-- 
Rahul Dhesi         UUCP:  {ihnp4,seismo}!{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi