On 2/08/2013 9:59 AM, John Gilmore wrote:
The problem here is a C -language one. C wots not of function variables; but it does admit, as a sort of afterthought, of pointers to functions. This is enormously convenient but highly problematic.
How are they problematic? Try writing a generic sort function without function pointers. Of course, C++ templates do a better job. Almost all modern languages have gone a step further and support functions as first class objects. It's no surprise the functional programming paradigm is becoming the mainstream.
Ritchie realized this; and in his new super-C and super-UNIX this and many other problems of its sort were dealt with; the operator-precedence problems that plague C were, for example, put right. Regrettably, funding for his new undertaking almost but never quite materialized; and now he is gone.
John Gilmore, Ashland, MA 01721 - USA ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
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