In article <bb8e3a2e5419e566d0361...@[192.168.1.2]>, Eris Discordia <eris.discor...@gmail.com> wrote: >I think I am sure C >was a lot easier to learn and comprehend than either Pascal
Might depend how you define easier. >What seems to distinguish--pedagogically, at least--C is, as I noted on >that other thread, its closeness to how the small computer, not the actual >small computer but the mental model of a small computer, works. Pointers? >They're just references to "pigeonholes" in a row of such holes. Scope? >It's just how long your variables are remembered. Invocation? Just a way to >regurgitate your own cooking. If one has to solve a problem, implement an >algorithm, on a small computer one needs to be able to explain it in terms >of the primitives available on that computer. That's where C shines. >There's a close connection between language primitives and the primitives >of the underlying computer. I'm not saying this is something magically >featuring in C--it's a property that _had_ to feature in some language some >time, C became that. In a different time and place, on different machines, >another language would/will be that (and it shall be called C ;-)) It is indeed true that C can "hug the hardware" and the rest is history as they say. However, to implement an algorithm solely based upon the primitive of a computer, if I understand you, I can't agree to as a carte blanche statement. >...There's a great deal of arbitrariness in how a computer language >might look. It is epistemologically, aesthetically, and pragmatically >advantageous to "remove arbitrariness" by fitting a language to either its >target platform or its target problem, preferably both. C did and continues >to do so, LISP doesn't (not anymore, to say the least). These bits and piece do come into play, however, I think your conclusion greatly exaggerates the situation, at least as I understand what you said. -- Greg Comeau / 4.3.10.1 with C++0xisms now in beta! Comeau C/C++ ONLINE ==> http://www.comeaucomputing.com/tryitout World Class Compilers: Breathtaking C++, Amazing C99, Fabulous C90. Comeau C/C++ with Dinkumware's Libraries... Have you tried it?
