Re: mixed-sign arithmetic and auto
Francis Glassborow wrote:
As, for example, does code that assumes a 32-bit int. It is part of the
design philosophy of both C and C++ to support all reasonable hardware
designs and not endeavour to force hardware to conform to the
expectations of the language.
Compiler design and language design co-evolve with CPU design. I submit
as proof of that the obsolescence of 36 bit machines, 10 bit bytes,
non-IEEE arithmetic, EBCDIC, special "pascal" CPU instructions, BCD
opcodes, etc. I submit as proof the evolution of orthogonal register
sets, opcodes for the simple setup/teardown of stack frames, etc.
If you want fully portable code you do not use either C or C++. However
a competent programmer knows what the hardware requirements are for the
code he is writing and will check that they are met.
Of course. The only problem is the shortage of competent C++
programmers, and difficulty of recognizing them when you run across one.
And frankly I'd want my (rare and expensive) competent programmers
working on more productive things than trying to wring all the UB out of
the code. I'd rather *define* UB out of existence. Voila, problem gone.
Anyone who simply re-compiles code for different hardware without
reading the documentation (which should specify what it was written for
and what it has been tested on) deserves a bit of pain :)
OTOH using
third party software that is inadequately documented also deserves pain
:)
If the original programmer cannot take the trouble to document
his/her code then why would you expect it to have sufficient quality to
be useful?
I should think you'd be pushing to remove const, static type checking,
etc., from C++. Because, after all, if programmers would only get off
their lazy rears and become competent, they wouldn't need those crutches
and defenses against poor documentation.
--------
Walter Bright
http://www.digitalmars.com
C, C++, D programming language compilers
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