Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!haven!purdue!bu-cs!buengc!bph
From: bph@buengc.BU.EDU (Blair P. Houghton)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Comment removal
Message-ID: <2072@buengc.BU.EDU>
Date: 8 Feb 89 21:38:21 GMT
References: <1734@dlvax2.datlog.co.uk> <3466@sdsu.UUCP>
Reply-To: bph@buengc.bu.edu (Blair P. Houghton)
Followup-To: comp.lang.c
Organization: Boston Univ. Col. of Eng.
Lines: 45

In article <3466@sdsu.UUCP> middleto@sdsu.UCSD.EDU (Tom Middleton) writes:
>In article <> scm@datlog.co.uk ( Steve Mawer ) writes:
>
>i=1/* this is a comment */1 ;
>j=1/* this is
>a comment */1 ;
>
>I tried the above on our SUN, our ELXSI and our CELERITY.  The results
>were the same for all three.  The second line resulted in an error which
>would indicate the comment was replaced by white space of some sort.
>However, the first line worked just fine and the value of i when printed
>was 11.[...]

Bad compiler.  K&Red1 states (word-of-god-time, here... :-) on pg. 8,
"Any characters between /* and */ are ignored by the compiler;
they may be used freely [here's the emphasized part -ed.]
	ANYWHERE A BLANK OR NEWLINE CAN."

I.e., any compiler that thinks a comment is zero-length whitespace
is (umbrellas up, let's hear it, girls!) broke-broke-broke.

Okay, I'll get a grip.
The C Reference Manual appendix to K 'n' R pere only says that "comments
do not nest."
It's entirely likely that the guys with "Standard Conforming" tattooed
on a banner under a arrow-pierced heart on their ctrl-C'ing arm have
a much different idea of what sort of whitespace a comment should be
allowed to be.

>Don't know if this is significant at all and I don't recommend comments
>inside of constants but thought it was interesting enough to mention.

Mention it to the company that wrote the compiler.

Considering that there were _three_ compilers that busted, either someone
isn't paying attention or I'm using superseded info.  My obvious conceit
precludes my choosing the latter.

> G O    P A D R E S !

No comment.  ;->

				--Blair
				  "Except for all this Boggs bull,
				   I'm a Sox fan."