🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <4886@mimsy.UUCP>, mangoe@mimsy.UUCP (Charley Wingate) writes:
> Mike Eager writes:
> > [ stuff about how lint checks for things that ccom doesn't ]
>
> In case you hadn't heard, compilers are not COMPELLED to allow variable
> length argument lists in most languages.  My personal opinion is that they
> ought to be expressly forbidden unless there is some syntax that makes it
> quite clear what is going on.  In a single compilation, after all, this is a
> static property of the code anyway

(1) Bullshit.  Variable length argument lists are part of C.  C compilers
    are COMPELLED to allow variable length argument lists.  Mike was referring
    to C.

(2) Bullshit.  How do you deal with printf(), scanf(), etc.?  In a single
    compilation, it is a static property of the code that these routines
    need to be called with variable numbers of arguments at different points
    within the same program (or even the same routine).

The point Mike was trying to make (I believe) is that, at least for C, there
are syntax checkers (i.e., compilers) and style checkers (i.e., lint).  Many
languages try to define the style as part of the syntax of the language.  Feh.
One of the nice concepts encompassed by lint is that you can tell it that you
are intentionally breaking the style "rules" (I'll readily agree that the
implementation of these concepts is pretty piss poor).  Try doing that in
Pascal or Ada.

> C. Wingate
					- Rick


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