Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!att-ih!pacbell!ames!ll-xn!mit-eddie!bbn!bbn.com!rsalz
From: rsalz@bbn.com (Rich Salz)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: C++ releases from AT&T?
Message-ID: <570@fig.bbn.com>
Date: 31 Mar 88 19:52:48 GMT
References: <254@piring.cwi.nl> <1517@dataio.Data-IO.COM> <257@piring.cwi.nl>
Organization: BBN Laboratories, Cambridge MA
Lines: 36


guido@cwi.nl (Guido van Rossum) starts talking about what if (0) ...
means to optimizing compilers, and is this a language issue or an
implementation issue.

bright@Data-IO.COM (Walter Bright) replies that it's an implementation
issue.

("It's a dessert topping."  "It's a floor wax."  [Sorry Guido, US Television
reference.])

Guido reponds,
>  I want it to be a language issue, so I can replace
>90% of the occurrences of
>	#ifdef DEBUG
>		printf("We did it!!!!!!!!!!\n");
>	#endif
>by
>		if (debug) printf("Did it...\n");
because that's much easier to read.

He'd also like it to be able to do this:
>	#ifdef NDEBUG
>	const debug = 0;
>	#else
>	int debug; /* Set by -D command line flag */
>	#endif

I think his last request really proves that it's an implementation
issue.  What should happen if I do this:
	prompt% adb -w a.out
	_debug/W 1
	$q
	prompt% 
-- 
Please send comp.sources.unix-related mail to rsalz@uunet.uu.net.