Groups | Search | Server Info | Keyboard shortcuts | Login | Register [http] [https] [nntp] [nntps]


Groups > comp.lang.c > #22433

Re: What a stupid gcc!

Date 2012-06-20 09:37 -0400
From Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net>
Newsgroups comp.lang.c
Subject Re: What a stupid gcc!
References <jrb1f1$18m$1@speranza.aioe.org><c22c6f76-2090-447a-8aab-53384d65e1c3@googlegroups.com><slrnjtr16f.rk7.grahn+nntp@frailea.sa.invalid><jrkckl$fh4$1@dont-email.me><slrn3vfsjtuk8o.oe6.andrews@sdf.lonestar.org><jrnsqm$4me$1@dont-email.me><slrn3vfsjtvd9m.rhm.ike@iceland.freeshell.org><jroh87$71q$1@dont-email.me><slrn3vfsju0eu7.9cu.ike@sverige.freeshell.org><jrpino$1lj$1@dont-email.me><0.0ff9867a492014af7e6b.20120619134530BST.87395rsc5x.fsf@bsb.me.uk><jrq23v$rtv$1@dont-email.me> <0.d63dfcbf17c321e1d55d.20120619182205BST.87pq8vqksi.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <jrqmir$7q2$1@dont-email.me>
Message-ID <28Gdna63UOSAT3zSnZ2dnUVZ_g-dnZ2d@bestweb.net> (permalink)

Show all headers | View raw


On 6/19/2012 4:13 PM, BartC wrote:
[...]
> I started my comments in this thread about the disadvantages of just
> declaring variables anywhere as needed.
>
> Then I found out about block scopes and all the extra hassle they introduce,
> making such declarations even more problematic. (And why is a block so
> special anyway? Surely it's only used when you need two or more statements
> instead of one.)
>
> I'm sorry if no-one else can see the problems (duplicate declarations,
> clutter, separating related variables, scattered declarations, trickier
> editing because you have to keep moving the declarations around, worrying
> about scope, shadowing, anonymity, etc).

Ahh... So you want all declarations to be global scope, always?

That eliminates the ability to do recursion (the "int i" within the function 
is a global reference to the single "int i" variable within the program). 
That eliminates the ability to create a "local" variable within a small 
block of code (I can't have a small loop use "int x,y", as that would simply 
be the same as the "double x,y" used elsewhere).  That eliminates basically 
everything useful about scope, because it eliminates scope entirely.

> My point of view is also an implementer's one: with variables declared at
> the top, the symbol table has a simple, tidy structure:
>
> M Module
> FN Function
> A Variable
> B Variable
> C Variable
>
> Module M, function FN, containing variables A,B,C; very easy. Now you
> introduce block scopes, and multiple versions of 'A', 'B', 'C' all with
> different types, scopes and lifetimes. The symbol table is no longer so
> tidy, it now needs to be full of anonymous 'blocks'.
>
> Given that the preference is this newsgroup is for small functions (usually
> small enough to fit in a window), what's the point of adding this extra
> complexity?

How could one write a "small function" if it couldn't create variables that 
are available only within its scope?


-- 
Kenneth Brody

Back to comp.lang.c | Previous | Next — Previous in thread | Next in thread | Find similar | Unroll thread


Thread

What a stupid gcc! zgene <nospam@nospam.com> - 2012-06-13 21:41 +0000
  Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-13 18:01 -0400
    Re: What a stupid gcc! Noob <root@127.0.0.1> - 2012-06-14 13:00 +0200
      Re: What a stupid gcc! Nomen Nescio <nobody@dizum.com> - 2012-06-14 14:33 +0200
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@gmail.com> - 2012-06-14 14:46 +0100
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Noob <root@127.0.0.1> - 2012-06-14 18:19 +0200
  Re: What a stupid gcc! Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-06-13 18:06 -0400
  Re: What a stupid gcc! jt@toerring.de (Jens Thoms Toerring) - 2012-06-13 22:19 +0000
    Re: What a stupid gcc! Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@gmail.com> - 2012-06-14 09:47 +0100
      Re: What a stupid gcc! Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@gmail.com> - 2012-06-14 14:37 +0100
  Re: What a stupid gcc! Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-13 17:05 -0600
  Re: What a stupid gcc! Nick Bowler <nbowler@draconx.ca> - 2012-06-14 00:09 +0000
  Re: What a stupid gcc! Varun Tewari <tewari.varun@gmail.com> - 2012-06-14 03:14 -0700
    Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-14 06:56 -0400
    Re: What a stupid gcc! Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-06-17 07:18 +0000
      Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-17 11:47 +0100
        Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-17 09:31 -0400
          Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-18 12:34 +0100
            Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-18 08:18 -0400
              Re: What a stupid gcc! gwowen <gwowen@gmail.com> - 2012-06-18 05:42 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-18 09:39 -0400
              Re: What a stupid gcc! Rich Webb <bbew.ar@mapson.nozirev.ten> - 2012-06-18 09:06 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! ImpalerCore <jadill33@gmail.com> - 2012-06-18 07:18 -0700
            Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-19 00:13 -0700
              Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 11:28 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 07:30 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-20 00:16 -0700
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Rui Maciel <rui.maciel@gmail.com> - 2012-06-17 15:52 +0100
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Noob <root@localhost> - 2012-06-18 09:07 +0200
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-06-18 09:03 +0000
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.lonestar.org> - 2012-06-18 16:02 +0000
          Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-18 19:40 +0100
            Re: What a stupid gcc! Noob <root@localhost> - 2012-06-18 23:52 +0200
            Re: What a stupid gcc! Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2012-06-18 23:09 +0000
              Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 01:30 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-19 13:03 +1200
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 06:34 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ike Naar <ike@sverige.freeshell.org> - 2012-06-19 08:43 +0000
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 11:00 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 07:05 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-19 23:21 +1200
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-19 23:22 +1200
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-19 13:45 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 15:23 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ike Naar <ike@iceland.freeshell.org> - 2012-06-19 16:14 +0000
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 18:01 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 13:59 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-19 15:29 -0600
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-19 18:22 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-19 21:13 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Lew Pitcher <lpitcher@teksavvy.com> - 2012-06-19 16:27 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 16:38 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2012-06-20 09:47 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-19 22:44 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-21 01:39 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-21 10:55 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-21 04:11 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-21 12:36 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! David Brown <david@westcontrol.removethisbit.com> - 2012-06-21 15:33 +0200
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.lonestar.org> - 2012-06-21 14:15 +0000
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2012-06-20 09:37 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-20 14:54 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2012-06-20 18:19 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-21 00:13 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-21 02:09 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-21 02:05 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-21 11:49 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-21 14:24 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-22 00:38 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-22 13:37 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-21 01:57 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-21 11:46 +0100
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Kenneth Brody <kenbrody@spamcop.net> - 2012-06-21 14:37 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Andrew Smallshaw <andrews@sdf.lonestar.org> - 2012-06-21 19:38 +0000
                Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-21 01:41 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-21 12:28 +0100
              Re: What a stupid gcc! Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-06-19 15:05 +0000
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-19 09:37 +1200
          Re: What a stupid gcc! ImpalerCore <jadill33@gmail.com> - 2012-06-18 15:18 -0700
          Re: What a stupid gcc! Paul J Gans <gansno@panix.com> - 2012-06-18 23:21 +0000
            Re: What a stupid gcc! Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-19 11:26 +1200
              Re: What a stupid gcc! Paul J Gans <gansno@panix.com> - 2012-06-19 01:46 +0000
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 07:19 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Stephen Sprunk <stephen@sprunk.org> - 2012-06-19 08:01 -0500
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 09:25 -0400
                Re: What a stupid gcc! Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-19 12:57 -0500
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-19 14:59 -0400
            Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-19 01:36 +0100
              Re: What a stupid gcc! Paul J Gans <gansno@panix.com> - 2012-06-19 01:48 +0000
          Re: What a stupid gcc! Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-18 19:50 -0500
          Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-19 00:19 -0700
            Re: What a stupid gcc! Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-19 12:56 +0100
              Re: What a stupid gcc! nick_keighley_nospam@hotmail.com - 2012-06-20 00:26 -0700
                Re: What a stupid gcc! James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-20 06:31 -0400
      Re: What a stupid gcc! Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2012-06-18 00:18 -0600
        Re: What a stupid gcc! Jorgen Grahn <grahn+nntp@snipabacken.se> - 2012-06-18 09:15 +0000
  Re: What a stupid gcc! Kaz Kylheku <kaz@kylheku.com> - 2012-06-14 23:21 +0000

csiph-web