C array follies 1

[Doug Gwyn <gwyn>]

>     void f(x)
>         int x[2][2][2];
>     {
> ...
>     }
>     void main(){
>         int x[2][2][2];
> ...
>         f(x);
>     }
> ...
> I think that most systems will print "4 16 8" (or equivalent) ...

Yes, you are not actually passing an entire array to the function f() but
rather just a pointer to a 2x2 array of ints.  C lets you misdeclare this
	void f( int x[2][2][2] );	/* ANSI C assumed */
which is the real misfeature.  The "correct" declaration is technically
	void f( int (*x)[2][2] );
which also is supported by C (thankfully), or if you prefer,
	void f( int x[][2][2] );

Fortunately, old C did not have this misfeature for structs/unions,
so it was possible to add to C the ability to pass struct arguments
in addition to just pointers to them.  For reasons of backward
compatibility, it is unfortunately NOT possible to change C so that
	f( x );
actually passes the array and not just a pointer to the first element.

Maybe language "D" can fix all C's mistakes (ha).  Meanwhile we just
have to learn to cope with them.