Improving C

[gwyn%brl-vld at sri-unix.UUCP]

From:  Doug Gwyn (VLD/VMB) <gwyn at brl-vld>

I started to prepare detailed point-by-point responses to your suggestions
for "improvements" to C, but I got tired of it after a while.  Basically,
my impression is that you do not properly understand the charter of the C
language.  Many of your suggestions would force significant run-time
overhead for all C programs, to support operations that are either
unnecessary if you know how to use C effectively or can be done already
without forcing a global implementation that may not be suitable for all
applications.

The ANSI C Language Standards Committee has addressed most of the issues
that can be resolved without breaking the millions of lines of existing
C source code.  A more featureful follow-on language, C++, appears to be
under development inside AT&T Bell Laboratories; it includes abstract
data types a la "classes" and other improvements.  One rule for C itself
is to not add any keywords to the language; C++ would be exempt from this.

One of the great attractions of C is the simplicity and elegance of its
basic design (although there are a few misfeatures, certainly).  It would
be a pity to lose that in a sea of "features".