Newsgroups: alt.flame
Path: utzoo!henry
From: henry@utzoo.uucp (Henry Spencer)
Subject: Re: == vs =
Message-ID: <1988Mar11.215800.1096@utzoo.uucp>
Organization: U of Toronto Zoology
References: <11216@brl-adm.ARPA> <2111@chinet.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 11 Mar 88 21:58:00 GMT

> ... We believe the use of the "="
> operator in C, in conditionals, in the real world context of its many
> meanings in many uses, is dangerous and error prone.

So fix your compiler to object to assignment in a context where a boolean
value is wanted.  That is a full, complete solution, without any change
to the language whatsoever.  It removes the danger without requiring that
all existing code be scrapped.

I agree that in the absence of such a "guard rail", C's use of the =
operator is dangerous.  Whether it is seriously error-prone depends on
the programmer.  (I have had trouble with it once in the last several
years.)  However, given some protection against dangerous misuse, there
is nothing intrinsically vile about C's choice of operator syntax; it
takes a bit of learning, and once learned is not a problem.
-- 
Those who do not understand Unix are |  Henry Spencer @ U of Toronto Zoology
condemned to reinvent it, poorly.    | {allegra,ihnp4,decvax,utai}!utzoo!henry