Arnt Karlsen writes:
> ..can C code be generated from C++ or Java source without undue
> difficulty using some tool?  How about C++ from Java source?

Originally, back in the old days, C++ was implimented via a translater
that produced "C" code for final compilation.  So, yes C code can be
generated, however I have no idea if these old tools are still
available.  I'm sure they were commercial/proprietary (not open
source) at the time they were being used before native C++ compilers
existed.

So by definition, anything you can do in C++, you can do in C.

> ..or is C++ source as "easy" to read as C source for the FAA guys?

I personally believe that code readability in most cases is more
dependent on the author of the code, and less dependent on the
language it was written in.  But, true, some languages can help or
hinder readability ... Intercal is [intentionally] one of the most
difficult languages to read.  I always thought that Modula-2 was one
of the more readable languages out there.  Some people say Python is
like writing pseudo-code.  Personally I still don't grok python very
well, which means readability is also dependent on the reader's
experiences.

> ..agreed, agreed, and ugly code is not airworthy.  Needs to be clean 
> and pretty and easy to read and understand.  Linus and the kernel guys
> enforce a coding style, how far off it are we?

There's no practical way to ensure a coding style without automating
the [re]formatting in some onobtrusive way.  So far I haven't found a
C++ beautifier that produces what I consider acceptable results (or
rather which doesn't produce unacceptable results.)

These questions can really lead into a religious debate so please
everyone be nice if you weigh in. :-)

> ..can the whole issue be as simple as enforcing coding style for
> easy readibility???

The question is though, from a practical standpoint, how do you
enforce a code style.  Do you want to do it manually yourself?  Do you
expect someone else to do it?  Who has the time?  If not manually, we
need to find an acceptable automated approach.  I'm open to
suggestions, maybe there's a new tool on the scene or something I
haven't seen yet?

> ..my "airworthy" questions comes from seeing the potential in
> airworthy code in avionics etc, built from a subset of FG and
> linux some day.  Until someone comes up with a better idea.  ;-)

Another approach would be to build the 'airworthy' code on top of the
lower level flightgear/simgear/plib code that is tried and trued and
stressed tested over and over again.

> ..hummm.  Why is the Linux kernel not written in C++?  ;-)
> Hurd?  Free|OpenBSD?  Anyone?  Any OS written in C++? 
> That _is_ possible?

History?  Momentum?  Biases of the leading kernel authors?  Bugs in
g++?  There was a time when the linux kernel could be built with g++,
but there were issues and the result wasn't as stable as when compiled
with C.  From that perspective you make a fair point, however, this
was a few years ago, g++ get's better and better, and coding a project
from the bottom up in C++ is a *lot* different than taking one that is
developed in C and trying to compile it with a C++ compiler.

Regards,

Curt.
-- 
Curtis Olson   IVLab / HumanFIRST Program       FlightGear Project
Twin Cities    [EMAIL PROTECTED]                  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Minnesota      http://www.menet.umn.edu/~curt   http://www.flightgear.org

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