"C" wish list.

[D Gary Grady]

> >	5. There are various parts of the syntax that I don't like:
> >		2. ;'s as statement terminators, I prefer the algol statement
> >		   separator.
> 
> I disagree; I prefer ;'s as statement terminators.  Trying to look at it
> objectively, I can see very little reason to prefer one or the other.

I have read several places (sorry I can't come up with a specific
reference) that beginning programmers seem to have far less trouble with
semicolons at the ends of statments than between statements.  This is
borne out by my own experience teaching novices.  I expect the reason is
that they view statements as sentences, and we all learn early on that
one puts a mark at the end of a sentence.  One might argue that we also
learn that semicolons separate rather than terminate clauses, but you
must understand that the average student hasn't the foggiest notion what
a semicolon is for (he observed with well-earned cynicism).
-- 
D Gary Grady
Duke U Comp Center, Durham, NC  27706
(919) 684-3695
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