Ada vs C, objectivity requested

[Karl Heuer]

This subthread is C-specific.  I am redirecting followups to comp.lang.c.

In article <567 at proxima.UUCP> lucio at proxima.UUCP (Lucio de Re) writes:
>Take another point. The "0b" prefix Walter Bright added to provide
>binary number representation is an obvious extension to C. The ANSI
>committee did not consider it...

It *was* considered, but rejected.  I suspect the response was "Insufficient
utility; Does not address a major deficiency; No established current practice"
or something like that.

>Well, I like it and I use it, and I would like it incorporated into the ANSI
>standard.

No problem.  Campaign to have it added to gcc; hint to your other vendors that
you like the feature.  If it's current practice when the next time around, it
has a much better chance of making it into C-2000.

>Certainly I would hate to lose it because some committee states that its
>implementation invalidates my compiler's compliance with the standard.

The feature doesn't break any existing code.  At worst, it requires a warning
diagnostic when the compiler is run in strictly pedantic ANSI mode.  The fact
that ANSI doesn't support it is not an excuse for not providing it.

Karl W. Z. Heuer (karl at ima.ima.isc.com or harvard!ima!karl), The Walking Lint