🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <KANZE.96Mar29122705@gabi.gabi-soft.fr>, kanze@gabi-soft.fr (J. Kanze) writes:
|> In article <4jdr0l$ddn@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> nmm1@cus.cam.ac.uk (Nick
|> Maclaren) writes:
|> 
|>     [...]
|> |> To put things in context, do you expect all students to write code
|> |> assuming the compilation and execution environments differ in their
|> |> character sets and both fixed- and floating-point arithmetic?
|> 
|> Yes.  Can you show me an example of good coding practice where this
|> would make a difference?  (And if your not teaching your students good
|> coding practice, you shouldn't be teaching them, period.)

Try using complex text handling, manipulating externally-defined
data structures, writing special function libraries or using
radically different systems for the different translation phases.
I agree that these tasks are way beyond the ability of most students
(and even most experienced programmers).

Actually, have you ever pre-processed the code of a compiler on an
ASCII machine for compilation on an EBCDIC one, or vice versa?  I
suspect that you underestimate the difficulties.


Nick Maclaren,
University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory,
New Museums Site, Pembroke Street, Cambridge CB2 3QG, England.
Email:  nmm1@cam.ac.uk
Tel.:  +44 1223 334761    Fax:  +44 1223 334679