geo@watdcsu.UUCP (Geo Swan) (07/07/84)
I agree with the need for standards. Further, these standards should be properly documented. I learned that cpp automatically sharp defined "unix", when I tried to declare a variable named "unix". (Try it sometime.) When I posted a local gripe, a number of people kindly explained this convention to me (In fact, prior to posting my gripe, I figured the convention out through trial and error.) This is folklore. None of my informants knew if and where this feature was documented. Undocumented features like this are booby-traps.
dmcanzi@watmath.UUCP (David Canzi) (07/07/84)
In addition to documenting these predefined symbols, the symbols themselves ought to be chosen so that they are not likely to be accidentally used as variables in somebody's program. Around here, "unix" and "waterloo" are predefined, and who knows what else is? If predefined symbols were all to begin and end with underscore characters, and this fact were documented, then nobody would fall into the trap of inadvertently using one.