Keeping executables small (was: main() and exit())

[Henry Spencer]

In article <8658 at bloom-beacon.MIT.EDU> scs at adam.pika.mit.edu (Steve Summit) writes:
>(In the case of exit and stdio, I suspect that the excuse for not
>taking steps to make loading of most of stdio truly optional is
>that the number of useful programs that don't use stdio is
>small.)

Don't forget, also, that stdio was meant to be cheap enough that there
wouldn't be any significant reason *not* to use it.  The one part that
was significantly bulky in the original implementation, printf's code
for floating-point conversions, was organized so that its loading was
indeed optional.

Unfortunately, all too many Unix suppliers nowadays don't care how big
the executables are... after all, it helps sell memory...
-- 
"God willing, we will return." |     Henry Spencer at U of Toronto Zoology
-Eugene Cernan, the Moon, 1972 | uunet!attcan!utzoo!henry henry at zoo.toronto.edu