Path: utzoo!yunexus!gen1!bob
From: bob@gen1.UUCP (Robert Kamins)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Caution for those considering MSC 5.0
Keywords: Right right right!
Message-ID: <333@gen1.UUCP>
Date: 29 Feb 88 18:07:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: gen1.333
Posted: Mon Feb 29 13:07:13 1988
References: <66@obie.UUCP> <417@white.UUCP>
Reply-To: bob@gen1.UUCP (Robert Kamins)
Organization: gen1 - York University, Petrie Bldg, Downsview, Ontario CANADA
Lines: 25

In article <417@white.gcm> dc@gcm (Dave Caswell) writes:

>In article <66@obie.UUCP> wes@obie.UUCP (Barnacle Wes) writes:
>)
>)> but isn't all global data implicitly
>)> initialized to zero if not otherwise specified?
>)
>)No, as a matter of fact, it ISN'T supposed to be zeroed, it's supposed
>)to be left as it was!  MSC isn't wrong here, your code is wrong
>)because it was written to work with Turbo C, which is wrong.
>
>You are wrong wrong wrong. [etc] 

     Kernighan & Ritchie, "The C Programming Language", Appendix 
"A", Section 8.6 (p. 198, re: "Initialization") says:

    "Static and external variables which are not [specifically]
     initialized are guaranteed to start off as 0; automatic and 
     register variables which are not initialized are guaranteed 
     to start off as garbage."

     I have inserted "specifically" in the first line since the
context infers it.

     Bob Kamins.