Xref: utzoo comp.lang.modula2:756 comp.lang.misc:1415 comp.lang.c:9080 comp.lang.pascal:786
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bloom-beacon!gatech!udel!princeton!rutgers!mtunx!whuts!homxb!mhuxt!m10ux!rgr
From: rgr@m10ux.UUCP (Duke Robillard)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2,comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.pascal
Subject: Modula2's godawful IO.
Message-ID: <535@m10ux.UUCP>
Date: 6 Apr 88 16:31:36 GMT
References: <764@ndsuvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: rgr@m10ux.UUCP (Duke Robillard)
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill
Lines: 24

In article <764@ndsuvax.UUCP> ncreed@ndsuvax.UUCP (Walter Reed) writes:
>Here is an example of why these things bother me.
>	IF (x = TRUE) THEN
>		WriteString("Error #");
>		WriteCard(e);
>		WriteString(" in line #");
>		WriteCard(l);
>		WriteString(" detected.");
>	END;

I really like modula2.  It's probably my favorite language.  But
this WriteCard, WriteString stuff makes me want to pop someone in the nose.
It's as if someone told Prof. Wirth "heh, pascal's io is pretty bad, but
I bet you could make it EVEN WORSE."

I hate C as much as the next guy, but it seems to me that printf is
the solution.  Has anyone ever written some kind of front end for a 
modula compiler to turn printf's into WriteSh*t's?  It doesn't seem 
like it would be too hard, although you probably couldn't do it with a
macro processor like m4...could you?
-- 
+                                
|       Duke Robillard
|       AT&T Bell Labs           m10ux!rgr@ihnp4.UUCP                 
|       Murray Hill, NJ          {any biggy}!ihnp4!m10ux!rgr