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From: roberts@cognos.uucp (Robert Stanley)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: EQ and EQUAL
Message-ID: <1205@cognos.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jul-87 21:09:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: cognos.1205
Posted: Wed Jul 29 21:09:49 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Aug-87 11:47:35 EDT
References: <22@citcom.UUCP> <13278@topaz.rutgers.edu> <6601@reed.UUCP> <3927@spool.WISC.EDU> <6638@reed.UUCP> <290@nysernic>
Reply-To: roberts@cognos.UUCP (Robert Stanley)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 39
Summary: t'ain't necessarily so

In article <290@nysernic> weltyc@nic.nyser.net (Christopher A. Welty) writes:

>...Why do you think C is so popular?  Because pointers are
>very useful and allow you to do flexible things.  Sure, some people
>view them as "too low level" for a language that is supposed to
>support high level abstractions....

Until we get much more powerful computing systems out in the field, remembering
that the lag to plain old boring commercial DP in the field is about 15 years,
all persons writing 'real' applications will at some point be obsessed by
efficiency.  Further, human nature tends to leave us doing things the way we've
always done them.  How long has it taken for the concept of GOTO-less programs
to reach grunt level?  Has it?  It will take a long time to wean programmers
from pointers, even if there is an adequate alternative.  Adequate of course is
a mutable measurement, depending on local context.

>...But don't eliminate important elements of the language because
>you can't think of an example of how it could be used.  If it's there,
>SOMEONE must be using it!

Not so at all.  Nearly everything in large-scale software is prey to creeping
featurism, and the 'it seemed like a good idea at the time' syndrome.  Tools,
in which I include all programming languages, are no exception to this.  I can
name at least one heavy-duty bug that remained undetected for years for each of
several different language implementations.  Undetected for years means that
the feature was essentially unused.  We are suffering from the legacy of
solutions in search of a problem, and I welcome initiatives that offer a
departure from this sorry state of affairs.

The key issue is not to remove a feature from the language without providing a
way of simulating it.  If there are large cries from users that the only way to
do something is too slow/clumsy/impractical/etc. then is the time to take note
and introduce release two.

-- 
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