Nonsense in BYTE reader columns

[peters at cubsvax.UUCP]

In article <utzoo.6849> henry at utzoo.UUCP (Henry Spencer) writes:
>> ...[redefining C syntax with macros]... The
>> point wasn't that you SHOULD do things this way, but that you COULD.  And
>> there's nothing wrong with someone programming that way, if it increases
>> their efficiency and doesn't hinder the quality of the code...
>
>Provided that they realize that they're easing their own learning process
>a bit (c'mon, guys, how long does it take competent people to learn how
>to write "{}" and "=="?) at the price of having their own private dialect
>of C.  In a more general context, yes there *is* something wrong with it:
>the result will be less intelligible to experienced C programmers, should
>they happen to hire any; ... [more good points]

Just a reminder that the possibility of this sort of usage is touted by K&R
as a virtue of the C preprocessor; pp86-87:  

	For example, Algol fans can say
		#define then
		#define begin	{
		#define end	;}
	and then write
		if ( i < 0 ) then
			begin
				a = 1;
				b = 2;
			end

Most of us agree that this is a bad idea, for the reasons mentioned;  however,
it's not obvious that it's a bad idea.  That's only become clear by dint of
peoples' experience with (other peoples') code written in this fashion.

Peter S. Shenkin	 Columbia Univ. Biology Dept., NY, NY  10027
{philabs,rna}!cubsvax!peters		cubsvax!peters at columbia.ARPA