🚀 go-pugleaf

hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) writes:

>Computer hardware quite properly uses pointers, and any software that
>does not is just making life difficult for the users.

Firstly, computer hardware does not necessarily use pointers.

Secondly, where different architectures do use pointers, the definition
of them can be quite different. As I have already said, Unisys A Series
have quite a different kind of pointer to that which C likes. In fact
the hardware defines a higher level more problem oriented kind of pointer
than C.

Thirdly, if you want direct access to hardware capabilities, then you may
as well use assembler. The disadvantages should be well known. Such languages
are solutions or 'how' oriented, not problem and 'what' oriented. This means
that you are not implementation independent, which makes portability difficult.
This also makes maintainability difficult. This style of programming locks
you into certain ways of doing things, instead of giving you the freedom
that higher level languages give you.

Customers are becoming more sophisticated, and do not like to be locked
into closed systems (proprietary systems are not necessarily closed), or
into Unix for that matter. 

-- 
Ian Joyner  ACUS (Australian Centre for Unisys Software)    ian@syacus.acus.oz
"Where is the man with all the great directions?...You can't imagine it,
 how hard it is to grow, Can you imagine the order of the universe?" ABWH
Disclaimer:Opinions and comments are personal.