C, please die, and take Go with you - Re: Fwd: is there any word processing software for the pdp11?

Toby Thain toby at telegraphics.com.au
Wed Dec 3 08:05:34 CST 2014


On 03/12/14 1:44 AM, Holm Tiffe wrote:
> Toby Thain wrote:
>
>> On 02/12/14 1:45 PM, Holm Tiffe wrote:
>>> ...
>>> C is much like Assembler, you should know what you really want todo. The
>>> comiler let you do all kind of things with the assumption that you know
>>> what
>>> you are doing. This is a programming language for system programming
>>> purposes (written to write Unix) where you have to load unusual registers
>>> and such things...
>>
>> Less than 5% of the *kernel* is at that level, and NONE of userland. The
>> rest needs as much static checking as it can get (which is where C and
>> "worse is better" entirely fails people doing "systems programming").
>>
>> Viz: Thousands of CERT notices.
>>
>> --Toby
>>
>
> Toby you just have to write pascal or ada compilers for all that small
> stuff most people have todo with today.
>
> I'm sure programmers will use it then.
>
> It isn't the question if you like C, the question is what you get to
> write programs for devices and I'm really don't want to programm
> embedded things with ARM or MIPS kernel entirely using assembler...

Sure, there are some niches where it's still appropriate.

My point is that it's used widely in places where it's just not ok, for 
no better reason than "we've always done things this way"*

--Toby

* - 1973 is now outside living memory for a lot of developers.

>
> Regards,
>
> Holm
>



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