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Re: Array sizes and const

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On 06/ 4/12 10:47 AM, BartC wrote:
> "Ian Collins"<ian-news@hotmail.com>  wrote in message
> news:a327a6F5maU3@mid.individual.net...
>> On 06/ 4/12 10:08 AM, Malcolm McLean wrote:
>
>>> could reasonably sort x as a side-effect. Make it const, and you've
>>> documented that this isn't the case. I'd say this is sufficiently
>>> rare to make const non-useful as a documenting feature.
>>
>> But what isn't rare is something like
>>
>> const double dd[] = { 1.0, 2.0, 3.1 };
>>
>> mean(dd);
>>
>> Which will trigger an appropriate diagnostic.
>>
>> If a function doesn't modify a parameter, declare it const.  What's so
>> hard about that?
>
> Because nineteen times out of twenty, it won't modify it, so it means loads
> of const attributes cluttering up code.
>
> Of course some parameter types can be harmlessly modified (ints for
> example), and const isn't necessary, but then you have to start thinking
> about about every parameter and whether it will be modified in the caller or
> in the callee.

Isn't that part of the design process?  Naturally it's pointless 
declaring a value type parameter const, but pointer types should be. 
Not doing so in the past has given us the glorious mess of a language 
permitting a string literal to be passed to function with a char* parameter.

-- 
Ian Collins

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Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-02 15:43 -0500
  Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-03 08:56 +1200
  Re: Array sizes and const Eric Sosman <esosman@ieee-dot-org.invalid> - 2012-06-02 16:59 -0400
    Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-02 16:35 -0500
      Re: Array sizes and const jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-06-08 20:05 +0000
      Re: Array sizes and const jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-06-09 21:36 +0000
    Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-02 16:43 -0500
  Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-02 14:59 -0700
    Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-02 17:12 -0500
      Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-02 18:27 -0700
        Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-02 22:27 -0500
      Re: Array sizes and const "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-03 11:24 +0100
        Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-03 13:51 -0700
          Re: Array sizes and const "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-04 12:20 +0100
            Re: Array sizes and const Jens Gustedt <jens.gustedt@loria.fr> - 2012-06-04 13:54 +0200
            Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-04 14:32 -0700
  Re: Array sizes and const Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2012-06-02 23:50 +0100
    Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-03 10:53 +1200
      Re: Array sizes and const Nobody <nobody@nowhere.com> - 2012-06-03 14:35 +0100
    Re: Array sizes and const James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-02 21:11 -0400
      Re: Array sizes and const Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-06-03 07:39 -0700
        Re: Array sizes and const James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-03 16:03 -0400
        Re: Array sizes and const Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-03 21:49 +0100
          Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-03 14:49 -0700
          Re: Array sizes and const Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-06-03 15:02 -0700
            Re: Array sizes and const Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-04 01:21 +0100
        Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 09:08 +1200
          Re: Array sizes and const Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-06-03 15:08 -0700
            Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 10:37 +1200
              Re: Array sizes and const "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-03 23:47 +0100
                Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 10:55 +1200
                Re: Array sizes and const Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-06-03 16:04 -0700
                Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 11:14 +1200
                Re: Array sizes and const "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-04 00:23 +0100
                Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 11:30 +1200
                Re: Array sizes and const "BartC" <bc@freeuk.com> - 2012-06-04 00:52 +0100
                Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 12:04 +1200
                Re: Array sizes and const Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-04 01:39 +0100
                Re: Array sizes and const Malcolm McLean <malcolm.mclean5@btinternet.com> - 2012-06-04 02:35 -0700
                Re: Array sizes and const Ben Bacarisse <ben.usenet@bsb.me.uk> - 2012-06-04 01:33 +0100
                Re: Array sizes and const Ian Collins <ian-news@hotmail.com> - 2012-06-04 12:35 +1200
                Re: Array sizes and const pacman@kosh.dhis.org (Alan Curry) - 2012-06-04 21:28 +0000
        Re: Array sizes and const James Kuyper <jameskuyper@verizon.net> - 2012-06-04 12:08 -0400
        Re: Array sizes and const jgk@panix.com (Joe keane) - 2012-06-04 22:49 +0000
    Re: Array sizes and const David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2012-06-03 15:46 -0500
  Re: Array sizes and const Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-06-08 02:08 -0700
    Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-08 06:45 -0500
      Re: Array sizes and const Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-06-08 10:49 -0700
        Re: Array sizes and const Les Cargill <lcargill99@comcast.com> - 2012-06-08 18:05 -0500
    Re: Array sizes and const Keith Thompson <kst-u@mib.org> - 2012-06-08 13:31 -0700
      Re: Array sizes and const Tim Rentsch <txr@alumni.caltech.edu> - 2012-06-08 20:30 -0700

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