Re: What is C?

From	Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk>
Newsgroups	comp.lang.c
Subject	Re: What is C?
Date	2017-04-29 21:00 +0100
Organization	A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID	<87fugrhtl9.fsf@bsb.me.uk> (permalink)
References	<830c4de1-bf1c-4526-8adb-b61f06a9f3c8@googlegroups.com> <87r30bi1mn.fsf@bsb.me.uk> <c713b86f-b6e0-4732-a07c-37bbf8afa25d@googlegroups.com>

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David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> writes:

> On Saturday, April 29, 2017 at 10:07:19 AM UTC-7, Ben Bacarisse wrote:
>> David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> writes:
>> 
>> > I have taken a position as to what "C" means that is not
>> > looked on favorably by several regulars on comp.lang.c.
>> > But I think I have never been clear exactly what I meant
>> > (I was probably unclear myself). I think now that I can
>> > say exactly what I think.
>> >
>> > I would say that the C language is the language defined by
>> > the phrase structure grammar.
>> 
>> That's small part of it, but a language where
>> 
>>   #include <stdio.h>
>>   int main(void) { printf("%d\n", 1+2); }
>> 
>> printed 42 would not be C (as other people interpret the name).
>> 
>> > I usually use the grammar
>> > from C89 but the later standards, so far a I know, haven't
>> > changed it much. The grammar in K&R 78 is too incomplete
>> > to use.
>> 
>> C can't be described by a context-free grammar like those in the
>> standard and the two editions of K&R.  The two big problems are the
>> pre-processor and the syntactic role played by typedef names.
>> 
>> > The C so defined is incomplete as a programming tool. These
>> > days there is both pre and post processing. But - as I see
>> > the situation - neither are intrinsic parts of C.
>> 
>> The pre-processor is an intrinsic part of (what the world calls) C.  You
>> can use the term in some other way, but I'd advise against that.  Usenet
>> is nothing if not the natural home for people who define things how they
>> like.
>  
> It is possible to write a C program that does nothing in the
> preprocessor except ignore end-of-lines.
<snip>

Thanks.  I am beginning to understand the purpose of your posts.
-- 
Ben.

Thread

What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 09:10 -0700
  Re: What is C? GOTHIER Nathan <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 18:26 +0200
    Re: What is C? Thiago Adams <thiago.adams@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 12:31 -0700
      Re: What is C? GOTHIER Nathan <nathan.gothier@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 23:02 +0200
  Re: What is C? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-04-29 18:07 +0100
    Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 10:44 -0700
      Re: What is C? Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2017-04-29 21:00 +0100
  Re: What is C? "Rick C. Hodgin" <rick.c.hodgin@gmail.com> - 2017-04-29 16:45 -0700
  Re: What is C? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-04-29 22:54 -0700
    Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-04-30 11:48 -0700
      Re: What is C? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-04-30 12:02 -0700
        Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-04-30 15:24 -0700
          Re: What is C? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-04-30 17:00 -0700
            Re: What is C? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-04-30 18:00 -0700
            Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-05-01 09:41 -0700
              Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-01 12:25 -0500
                Re: What is C? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-05-01 10:46 -0700
                Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-01 13:04 -0500
                Re: What is C? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-05-02 04:11 -0700
                Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-03 00:48 -0500
                Re: What is C? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-05-03 09:37 -0700
                Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-05 00:45 -0500
                Re: What is C? supercat@casperkitty.com - 2017-05-05 10:51 -0700
                Re: What is C? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-05-05 01:32 -0700
                Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-07 23:07 -0500
      Re: What is C? Malcolm McLean <malcolm.arthur.mclean@gmail.com> - 2017-04-30 12:03 -0700
        Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-04-30 15:27 -0700
          Re: What is C? Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2017-04-30 16:57 -0700
  Re: What is C? John Bode <jfbode1029@gmail.com> - 2017-05-01 10:13 -0700
    Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-05-01 10:26 -0700
      Re: What is C? Robert Wessel <robertwessel2@yahoo.com> - 2017-05-01 12:50 -0500
      Re: What is C? John Bode <jfbode1029@gmail.com> - 2017-05-01 12:34 -0700
  Re: What is C? Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2017-05-02 03:39 -0700
    Re: What is C? David Kleinecke <dkleinecke@gmail.com> - 2017-05-03 12:05 -0700

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