Path: csiph.com!news.swapon.de!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!mx02.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: Small Device C Compiler 3.6.0 released
Date: Mon, 13 Jun 2016 16:35:30 -0700
Organization: None to speak of
Lines: 53
Message-ID: <lnbn343bnh.fsf@kst-u.example.com>
References: <njkqfd$imt$1@solani.org> <njlkup$1s0$1@dont-email.me> <njltk7$t36$1@dont-email.me> <njm6u5$v6g$1@dont-email.me> <njm90p$766$1@dont-email.me> <njmc9u$j4f$1@dont-email.me> <njmo5h$ami$1@dont-email.me> <874m8x2b3m.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <njn1hj$gfa$1@dont-email.me> <87y46825no.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <njn6j3$60k$1@dont-email.me> <87pork1zyk.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <21a7e10d-2cf6-5ad2-cfe4-3a9b2a725d28@verizon.net>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Injection-Info: mx02.eternal-september.org; posting-host="945944de09706c9b4e29b53c9d2efdc2"; logging-data="6758"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX19Jr+s08WLxGoVSzj0G4qgH"
User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Emacs/23.1 (gnu/linux)
Cancel-Lock: sha1:b54GvDvlMAX/wgoBSLLkSilObPc= sha1:O76JhwQ1IKV2SgPdic5l17X/jIE=
Xref: csiph.com comp.lang.c:89056

"James R. Kuyper" <jameskuyper@verizon.net> writes:
> On 06/13/2016 06:33 PM, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
> ...
>> ... (Pre-K&R C did not permit
>> declarations in compound statements.)
>
> The earliest version of C I've ever used was K&R C, in 1979. Were the
> relevant terms defined differently in pre-K&R C?
>
> 6.9.1p1:
> function-definition:
> declaration-specifiers declarator declaration-listopt compound-statement

Yes.

K&R C (1st edition, 1978) has:

    compound-statement
        { declaration-list(opt) statement-list(opt) }

which permits declarations either at the top level of a function or in a
nested block.  (I've represented the subscript "opt" as "(opt)".)

https://www.bell-labs.com/usr/dmr/www/cman.pdf (1975, I think) has:

    compound-statement:
        { statement-list }
    statement-list:
        statement
        statement statement-list

(Interestingly, this implies there must be at least one statement.  An
appendix mentions that GCOS requires this, but UNIX does not.)

It also says:

    The function-body has the form
        function-body:
            type-decl-list function-statement
    ...
    The function-statement is just a compound statement which may have
    declarations at the start.
        function-statement:
            { declaration-list statement-list(opt) }

So declarations are permitted only at the top of the outermost compound
statement of a function body.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst-u@mib.org  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
Working, but not speaking, for JetHead Development, Inc.
"We must do something.  This is something.  Therefore, we must do this."
    -- Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, "Yes Minister"