From -8505546212783286133 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 109fba,d733139e7969f81d X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-Thread: f78e5,d733139e7969f81d X-Google-Attributes: gidf78e5,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1994-09-23 14:50:27 PST Newsgroups: comp.std.c++,comp.lang.c++ Path: bga.com!news.sprintlink.net!howland.reston.ans.net!cs.utexas.edu!chpc.utexas.edu!news.utdallas.edu!corpgate!bcarh8ac.bnr.ca!bcarh189.bnr.ca!nott!cunews!dfs From: dfs@doe.carleton.ca (David F. Skoll) Subject: Re: How relevant is ANSI C++? (Re: Is STL a good standard?) Message-ID: Followup-To: comp.std.c++,comp.lang.c++ Sender: news@cunews.carleton.ca (News Administrator) Organization: Carleton University X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] References: Date: Fri, 23 Sep 1994 19:54:22 GMT Lines: 38 Xref: bga.com comp.std.c++:4543 comp.lang.c++:30247 In article , Thomas M. Breuel (tmb@arolla.idiap.ch) wrote: > In article dfs@doe.carleton.ca (David F. Skoll) writes: DFS> The biggest problem (as I see it) with C++ is its schizophrenic desire DFS> to be a new language on the one hand, and largely compatible with C on DFS> the other hand. [... snip ...] TMB> But there is no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. We TMB> can migrate gradually to these new constructs. For example, we don't TMB> have to get rid of C-style arrays just to have safe arrays. They can TMB> live side-by-side. Likewise, we don't have to get rid of C-style TMB> unions to support garbage collection. True. However, IMO, a radical change is needed to clean up the language. It's just my opinion, of course. Implementing GC in the face of unions while maintaining C linkage (no run-time type identification for the unions, for example) is a daunting task, unless you're willing to settle for a conservative collector. DFS> When I mentioned "special rules", I refer to the ARM -- for example, DFS> see the table on page 306, [... snip ...] DFS> It's terrible to force software developers to remember or DFS> refer to this table. There must be a cleaner way. > Well, some of these problems would go away with some of the extensions > I mentioned above. I have never yet seen a language (or any other piece of software) get simpler with the passing of time. :-) -- David F. Skoll Click here for my home page "Query two pi" on typewriter.