Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: The D Programming Language (was: Still more new operators)
Message-ID: <1988Feb25.202237.8688@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <11702@brl-adm.ARPA> <243@eagle_snax.UUCP> <2245@geac.UUCP>, <2718@mmintl.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 25 Feb 88 20:22:37 GMT

> ... An undeclared variable should be an error, not an int.

Um, perhaps you should learn C before you start designing D...?  An
undeclared variable *is* an error.

> Another thing that should go is the assumption that the unit of storage is
> the byte.  The base unit of storage is the bit, and sizeof should return the
> number of bits in the object.  This enables to treat objects smaller than a
> byte as first class objects.

Here we have a key decision:  is D to share C's emphasis on generation
of efficient code?  (Bearing in mind that this had a lot to do with C's
success.)  If so, then trying to forget that bytes exist is a serious
mistake.  Most machines cannot handle bits with anywhere near the efficiency
with which they handle bytes; the appropriate base unit for efficient code
*is* the byte.

> ... In keeping with the spirit of C, we avoid
> superfluous words, and keep the ones we do use short.
> 
> With these changes, the {} statement delimiters become much less useful.  I
> would probably drop them, and add a "begin ... end;" construct...

Please explain how avoiding superfluous words and keeping necessary ones
short is consistent with changing {/} to begin/end for no particular reason.

> To get even more radical -- with typedefs, enums, const declarations, and
> (if we add them) inline functions, do we really need the pre-processor any
> more? ...

The C++ people claim that the answer is "not much", given inline functions
in particular.  They do still use it for some specialized problems, though.

> I would omit the automatic insertion of a null byte at the end of character
> constants.  If you want nul terminated strings, write the nul.  If you want
> strings with counts, the language should not get in your way.

Pray tell, how do you write a counted-string constant?  I would suggest
that "abc" should mean a length-3 string with any necessary terminator,
regardless of what flavor of string is in use.  That way you get a choice,
without recoding all your string constants.
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry