🚀 go-pugleaf

jch@rdg.dec.com (John Haxby) writes:

>C's pointers are a pain in the neck sometimes.

Great understatement :-) You simply don't need C style pointers in decent
programming languages. Standard Algol 60 does not have pointers. However,
I use pointers in Algol all the time, Unisys A Series extended Algol 60
that is (the assembler for the machine.) These pointers are very different
in nature to C pointers. They are mainly meant for scanning text and data
strings. These are very useful for parsing, etc, and map into single
machine instructions, so that you can accomplish quite complex block
updates with editing in one instuction.

They also differ from C pointers in that if you run off the end of the
block you are pointing at, you get a fault immediately, as the hardware
checks for this.

You can also have array references, which are used for making multi
dimensional array access more efficient. This has already been mentioned
in a post on Algol 68.

As C.A.R Hoare said, Algol is a significant advance over most of its
successors (particularly C).

---
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.
115-117 Wicks Rd, North Ryde, N.S.W Australia 2113
Tel 61-2-390 1328	Fax 61-2-390 1391


-- 
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.