problems/risks due to programming language, stories requested

[Michael D Mellinger]

In article <31039 at brunix.UUCP> phg at cs.brown.edu (Peter H. Golde) writes:


   The C language might be made "simpler" if all 
   undeclared variable were automatically declared
   as auto int; thus saving the need for "useless" declarations.  I would
   not like to program in such a language, would you?

   To take a more "real-life" example, I have, at times, mis-typed
   a C program as follows:

	c = foo(d);     /* update count of flibbets *
	bam_whiz(c, d); /* and propagate change to zip module */
	return;        

   If I had used another language, this error would have been caught by
   the compiler.  Clearly this is a small point, but it illustrates
   my point: some languages and compilers permit a larger percentage 
   of minor errors to pass than others.  

   --Peter Golde


Some compilers will warn you if you have nested comments.  gcc, for example,
will warn you about this if you use the -Wcomment option.  But your point
is well taken.  Personally, it's the little things like this that make me
believe that everyone should ABANDON C and move on to C++(two others being
function prototyping and strong type checking).  Waddya think?  Wither C?


void count_flibbets(int d) 
// int d;   Stop doing this!!
{
	c = foo(d);     // update count of flibbets
	bam_whiz(c, d); // and propagate change to zip module 
	return;        
}


-Mike