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| From | Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.lang.c |
| Subject | Re: Untyped Variables |
| Date | 2015-08-11 07:58 -0700 |
| Organization | None to speak of |
| Message-ID | <lnsi7pdg8s.fsf@kst-u.example.com> (permalink) |
| References | (3 earlier) <8eb33dc8-5c47-4b7b-a20e-584166a50d58@googlegroups.com> <55C69FFA.7050309@verizon.net> <ba0351fd-385d-4bc1-b947-380e83defb2b@googlegroups.com> <lnio8ndvph.fsf@kst-u.example.com> <c56f80ad-fd13-49e6-99d2-fe6e8dd20156@googlegroups.com> |
David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> writes:
> On Monday, August 10, 2015 at 8:05:47 AM UTC-7, Keith Thompson wrote:
>> David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> writes:
>> [...]
>> > The general strategy in C is to over-generate parses and then filter
>> > them semantically. Many of the semantic filters can also be done be
>> > done syntactically. IMO this is the correct strategy but it is not
>> > also followed. For example, "cast-expression" is an unfortunate way of
>> > introducing a semantic filter into syntax.
>>
>> Can you expand on that point? A cast-expression is just one of several
>> kinds of expressions defined in the syntax (primary-expression,
>> postfix-expression, unary-expression, cast-expression,
>> multiplicative-expression etc.), part of the scheme used to define
>> how expressions are parsed. What is your objection?
>
> Of course there is nothing wrong with cast-exprssion. It's just not
> elegant. Its effect is to prohibit certain sequences of unary
> operators (I think, ++,-- and sizeof followed by a cast). But this
> restriction on possible unary sequences can be handled by a (semantic)
> constraint more elegantly.
I'm still not quite sure what you're saying. A cast-expression is just
one of a number of kinds of expressions, used to define what can also be
expressed in terms of operator precedence. Would you prefer that C used
an operator precedence table instead of defining the precedence in the
grammar? Or is the cast-expression a particular problem?
If you're thinking that a cast operator should be treated as a unary
operator, that would create an ambiguity, or at least would cause some
difficulties in parsing:
sizeof (int) 42
That's 4 tokens that look like a valid expression, until you see the 42.
If the sizeof and cast operators has the same precedence, that would
require the parser to backtrack and interpret the expression as
sizeef ((int) 42)
Instead, it can simply report a syntax error because an integer constant
cannot appear immediately after a unary-expression.
--
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"
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Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-07 18:19 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Lőrinczy Zsigmond <nospam@for.me> - 2015-08-08 06:53 +0200
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-08 11:09 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-08 12:09 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-08 14:24 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-08 12:54 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-08 16:06 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-08 17:29 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-09 17:52 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2015-08-10 12:57 +1200
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-10 08:41 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-10 17:06 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-08-08 19:44 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-08 20:34 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-08-09 02:03 +0000
Re: Untyped Variables Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-08-08 22:52 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-08-09 04:57 +0000
Re: Untyped Variables Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2015-08-09 09:58 -0600
Re: Untyped Variables Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2015-08-10 03:54 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Richard Damon <Richard@Damon-Family.org> - 2015-08-09 16:59 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-09 18:02 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-10 11:01 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-10 13:20 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-10 16:54 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-11 00:20 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-10 08:11 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-10 17:15 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2015-08-11 00:30 -0400
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-11 16:50 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-11 17:24 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2015-08-12 01:37 +0100
Re: Untyped Variables glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-08-12 04:46 +0000
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-12 18:12 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-13 12:08 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-13 16:25 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-14 10:36 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Bartc <bc@freeuk.com> - 2015-08-14 19:13 +0100
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-11 07:58 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables richard@cogsci.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin) - 2015-08-10 13:53 +0000
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-10 08:29 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-10 17:01 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-10 17:42 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables glen herrmannsfeldt <gah@ugcs.caltech.edu> - 2015-08-11 02:56 +0000
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-10 16:50 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-08-11 01:39 +0100
Re: Untyped Variables Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2015-08-10 19:03 -0700
Re: Untyped Variables Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2015-08-11 11:21 +0100
Re: Untyped Variables David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2015-08-11 16:37 -0700
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