Article View: net.lang.c++
Article #206Unintuitive semantics for enum
From: David Sher
Date: Sat, 24 May 1986 21:12
Date: Sat, 24 May 1986 21:12
38 lines
1661 bytes
1661 bytes
I just tripped over another "feature" of c++.
This feature is that enums are not types.
They look like types but really are synonomous with sets of
constant definitions and typedefs of ints. This strikes me as wrong.
Consider this c++ file:
enum footype { FOO = 17 };
void bar ( footype g );
void foo ( footype f )
{
bar ( 13 );
}
overload baz;
void baz ( footype h );
void baz ( int i );
class myclass
{
int k;
public:
myclass ( footype f );
myclass ( int i );
~myclass ( ) { ; }
};
First I think it is wrong that c++ accepts the statement
bar ( 13 )
as good. If bar takes footype's it should not take arbitrary
integers. Note also that the compiler accepts the definition of baz
but refuses the constructor definition of the class. This seems very
odd because either both baz and myclass is ambiguous or both are
unambiguous so the compiler should accept both or reject both.
I know the language is defined this way but the compiler should at
least give warnings when "type violations" of this sort occur.
--
-David Sher
sher@rochester
seismo!rochester!sher
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Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!gatech!seismo!rochester!sher From: sher@rochester.ARPA (David Sher) Newsgroups: net.lang.c++ Subject: Unintuitive semantics for enum Message-ID: <18407@rochester.ARPA> Date: Sat, 24-May-86 17:12:11 EDT Article-I.D.: rocheste.18407 Posted: Sat May 24 17:12:11 1986 Date-Received: Sun, 25-May-86 16:03:43 EDT Reply-To: sher@rochester.UUCP (David Sher) Organization: U of Rochester, CS Dept Lines: 38 Keywords: enum