Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!cornell!rochester!PT.CS.CMU.EDU!IUS1.CS.CMU.EDU!edw
From: edw@IUS1.CS.CMU.EDU (Eddie Wyatt)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: (So-Called) ANSI C
Message-ID: <609@PT.CS.CMU.EDU>
Date: 8 Jan 88 19:47:56 GMT
References: <4668@pyr.gatech.EDU> <495@xyzzy.UUCP> <9930@mimsy.UUCP> <10027@ut-sally.UUCP>
Sender: netnews@PT.CS.CMU.EDU
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
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In article <10027@ut-sally.UUCP>, nather@ut-sally.UUCP (Ed Nather) writes:
> It isn't a typo.  I use it all the time to assign a value to a variable,
> then test the result.  I find it seriously irritating that Turbo C
> crabs about the construction.  Like everyone else, I have written "="
> when I meant "==" ... just as I have made many bonehead errors in
> writing code.  But I don't blame the compiler, or the langauge, when
> I do.
> 

   Sorry, but in my opinion the similiarity between "==" and "=" is a
flaw in the language.  My attitude towards programming enviroments (languages
comprise part that) is that one aspect the enviroment should provide is
assisting programmers in developing software by insolating them against
common errors they make.  "=" in place of "==" is a very common bug I've seen
made by C programmers.  Claiming that its the programmer at fault won't,
help you when your software clashes causing major damage  (as in a Venus probe
that had a bug in the software to the degree: for i=1.100 in Fortran ).  
"An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
-- 

Eddie Wyatt 				e-mail: edw@ius1.cs.cmu.edu