Re: In how many ways should this fail?

From	Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: In how many ways should this fail?
Date	2012-01-30 17:31 +0000
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<20120130092151.77@kylheku.com> (permalink)
References	<87hazdcikg.fsf@huddi.jernurt.dk> <chine.bleu-61D2CA.08302730012012@news.eternal-september.org> <jg6hcq$3mc$1@dont-email.me>

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On 2012-01-30, BartC <bc@freeuk.com> wrote:
>
>
> "Devil with the China Blue Dress" <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
> news:chine.bleu-61D2CA.08302730012012@news.eternal-september.org...
>> In article <87hazdcikg.fsf@huddi.jernurt.dk>,
>> Anders Wegge Keller <wegge@wegge.dk> wrote:
>>
>>>  At work, we got into a talk about weird C constructs. One of my
>>> collegues volunteered this line:
>>>
>>>  (a>b)?a:b = 42;
>>
>>    *(a>b ? &a : &b) = 42;
>
> There's no reason why the original version shouldn't work. Doing as you 
> suggest is a bit like writing:
>
> *(&a) = 42;
>
> instead of a = 42. It shouldn't be necessary and it's less readable.

It isn't necessary in the "better C" known as C++.  Why not use that?
Ah right, portability.

The *(a>b ? &a : &b) = 42; method works in both C and C++.

The ternary syntax is awful anyway. Any time you nest it or combine it
with adjacent operators it becomes hard to decipher the precedence.

A function-like syntax both problems:

  #define IF(a,b,c) ((a) ? (b) : (c)))
  #define IFL(a,b,c) (*((a) ? &(b) : &(c)))

  IFL(foo != bar(), a, b[i]) = x | FLAG;

Thread

In how many ways should this fail? Anders Wegge Keller <wegge@wegge.dk> - 2012-01-30 16:32 +0100
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-30 11:07 -0500
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-30 11:11 -0500
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-30 17:42 +0000
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? gwowen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2012-01-30 08:16 -0800
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-30 17:35 +0000
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? gwowen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2012-01-30 23:47 -0800
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-02-01 00:00 -0800
        Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-02-01 12:14 +0000
          Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-02-01 08:04 -0500
          Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-02-01 13:31 +0000
        Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-02-01 12:59 +0000
          Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-02-01 08:37 -0500
            Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-02-01 16:40 +0000
              Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-02-01 12:13 -0500
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-03-08 12:49 -0800
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? Anders Wegge Keller <wegge@wegge.dk> - 2012-01-30 19:20 +0100
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? Devil with the China Blue Dress <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2012-01-30 08:30 -0800
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 16:43 +0000
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? Devil with the China Blue Dress <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2012-01-30 09:17 -0800
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-30 17:31 +0000
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-30 12:31 -0500
        Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 18:16 +0000
          Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-30 14:05 -0500
            Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 19:30 +0000
              Re: In how many ways should this fail? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-30 12:50 -0800
              Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-30 16:17 -0500
              Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-30 21:48 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-31 12:43 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Zoltan Kocsi <zoltan@bendor.com.au> - 2012-02-01 00:46 +1100
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-31 13:57 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-31 15:05 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Devil with the China Blue Dress <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2012-01-31 07:16 -0800
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-31 17:37 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-31 11:34 -0500
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-31 17:39 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-31 19:42 -0800
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-02-01 11:57 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-02-01 08:14 -0500
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Philip Lantz <prl@canterey.us> - 2012-02-01 00:04 -0800
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-01-31 09:05 -0500
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Devil with the China Blue Dress <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2012-01-31 06:45 -0800
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-31 17:34 +0000
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-31 19:26 -0800
                Re: In how many ways should this fail? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-31 19:29 -0800
        Re: In how many ways should this fail? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-01-30 21:28 +0000
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? timprince <tprince@computer.org> - 2012-01-30 11:44 -0500
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-30 17:35 +0000
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-01-30 17:21 +0000
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? Anders Wegge Keller <wegge@wegge.dk> - 2012-01-30 19:22 +0100
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? 88888 Dihedral <dihedral88888@googlemail.com> - 2012-01-30 11:09 -0800
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? jacob navia <jacob@spamsink.net> - 2012-01-30 19:04 +0100
    Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 18:21 +0000
      Re: In how many ways should this fail? Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@loria.fr> - 2012-01-30 20:15 +0100
        Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 19:32 +0000
          Re: In how many ways should this fail? Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@loria.fr> - 2012-01-30 21:01 +0100
            Re: In how many ways should this fail? "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-01-30 20:22 +0000
              Re: In how many ways should this fail? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-01-30 12:56 -0800
  Re: In how many ways should this fail? blp@cs.stanford.edu (Ben Pfaff) - 2012-01-30 10:07 -0800

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