Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent

From	Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	comp.std.c
Subject	Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent
Date	2023-01-03 10:35 -0800
Organization	None to speak of
Message-ID	<87wn63o495.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> (permalink)
References	<875yf5ksn9.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> <861qocrk5b.fsf@linuxsc.com> <871qocphp0.fsf@nosuchdomain.example.com> <ysfilhnmyyw.fsf@gmail.com>

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Pete Forman <petef4+usenet@gmail.com> writes:
> Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> writes:
[...]
>> I agree that __DATE__ should not be removed.  On further thought, I
>> don't think it should be deprecated.  The format it uses, "Jan  2 2023",
>> is too region-specific, but presumably some C code uses it, and it can't
>> be fully re-implemented in user code.
>>
>> If asctime() is removed in a future standard, then the descriptions of
>> __DATE__ and __TIME__ would have to be updated.  I offer no opinion on
>> whether asctime() *should* be deprecated.
>
> The "a" in asctime() stands for American, as in ASCII as introduced in
> Unix V7.
>
> https://man.cat-v.org/unix_7th/3/ctime

Yes, and all C keywords are English words, or derived from English words
or names (George Boole was English).  It's not possible to avoid all
region-specific features.

asctime() (also ctime()) is clearly a legacy function using an overly
US-specific format.  If the question were whether to introduce it now,
the answer would clearly be no.  And the committee has already decided
to mark it as obsolescent in C23, meaning it could be removed in a later
edition.  I believe C23 has been finalized, so it's no longer possible
to reverse that decision.  But I expect that it will remain in the
standard for a long time.

(And I *hate* that newline at the end, but it's far too late to fix that.)

Removing it would clearly have a cost, since it would break any programs
that uses it.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com
Working, but not speaking, for XCOM Labs
void Void(void) { Void(); } /* The recursive call of the void */

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C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2022-11-23 18:12 -0800
  Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-02 08:11 -0800
    Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2023-01-02 12:11 -0500
      Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-29 10:33 -0800
        Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-01-29 16:49 -0800
          Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Pete Forman <petef4+usenet@gmail.com> - 2023-01-30 23:23 +0000
          Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-07-20 10:11 -0700
            Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-07-20 15:04 -0700
              Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-08-13 15:26 -0700
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-08-13 16:47 -0700
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Jakob Bohm <jb-usenet@wisemo.com.invalid> - 2023-08-17 21:18 +0200
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-08-17 13:14 -0700
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Jakob Bohm <jb-usenet@wisemo.com.invalid> - 2023-08-18 01:26 +0200
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Pete Forman <petef4+usenet@gmail.com> - 2023-08-21 17:42 +0100
                Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-08-29 02:37 -0700
    Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-01-02 16:47 -0800
      Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2023-01-03 09:40 +0100
      Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Pete Forman <petef4+usenet@gmail.com> - 2023-01-03 15:15 +0000
        Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-01-03 10:35 -0800
        Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Phil Carmody <pc+usenet@asdf.org> - 2023-01-04 18:22 +0200
          Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent James Kuyper <jameskuyper@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2023-01-04 15:04 -0500
      Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-29 10:43 -0800
  Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Tim Rentsch <tr.17687@z991.linuxsc.com> - 2023-01-02 08:20 -0800
  Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Kaz Kylheku <864-117-4973@kylheku.com> - 2023-07-20 17:29 +0000
    Re: C23: asctime is obsolescent Keith Thompson <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> - 2023-07-20 15:20 -0700

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