c programming style
hwe at lanl.ARPA
hwe at lanl.ARPA
Fri Jul 19 05:31:12 AEST 1985
The original purpose of:
char *p;
while (*p++)...
was to allow the PDP-11 auto increment mode to be exploited.
The code above would generate something like...
tstb @(r0)+
while the code:
while (*p)
p += 1;
would/could (depending on the smarts of the compiler) generate an "inc"
instruction.
In discussions of C, the following points should be remembered...
1. The inventors (Ritchie and friends) of C were GOOD assembly
programmers who recognised the utility of the new-fangled
structured concepts.
2. C was primarily a vehicle for VERY GOOD assembly language
programmers to take advantage of the new structured programming
while keeping the close-to-the-machine power needed (??) for
system programming.
While I do support active discussions of programming style, p++ vs p += 1
and so on, have deeper significance than just style.
Skip Egdorf
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