rwl@uvacs.UUCP (07/13/86)
> I think C's usage of 'static', as applied to functions, to mean 'don't export' > is unfortunate. : > I would prefer the use of 'export' and 'import' as in Modula, with 'import' > replacing 'extern'. > The same arguments apply to variables as functions. : > Ok, it's going to mean more typing during initial coding. But how much > debugging time will it save you? *Anything* which encourages modular > programming has got to be a good idea. : > Jeremy Harris ...!mcvax!ukc!hrc63!miduet!jgh > (I don't speak for my employer) jgh@gec-mi-at.co.uk I can appreciate the aesthetics of export/import, but I don't think it would improve my coding. One of the reasons that I like C is the idea of having a grab-bag of functions at my disposal with the special exception of those which have been explicitly hidden from me via ``static''. The language is ``flat'': it provides for a set of functions which I organize to my liking. I definitely prefer this programming paradigm to the European style (a la Pascal, Modula2, Ada) which enforces it's own notion of structure at my expense. I suppose my attitude is that modular programming is not a ``good idea'' carved in stone; it should be applied as needed. No more, no less. Unlike some languages, C gives me the freedom to use my discretion. Though I didn't look at your path at first, the thing that crossed my mind while reading was that munging C in this way was down right un-American. :-) -- Ray Lubinsky University of Virginia, Department of Computer Science UUCP: ...!cbosgd!uvacs!rwl or ...!decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!rwl CSNET: rwl@virginia
jack@mcvax.UUCP (07/16/86)
In article <640@uvacs.UUCP> rwl@uvacs.UUCP writes: >> I think C's usage of 'static', as applied to functions, to mean 'don't export' >> is unfortunate. >: >> I would prefer the use of 'export' and 'import' as in Modula, with 'import' >> replacing 'extern'. >> (I don't speak for my employer) jgh@gec-mi-at.co.uk > >I can appreciate the aesthetics of export/import, but I don't think it would >improve my coding. One of the reasons that I like C is the idea of having a >grab-bag of functions at my disposal with the special exception of those which >have been explicitly hidden from me via ``static''. > This is exactly what you *don't* want! The situation in C is that the default is that a function is exported. This leads to the fact that most people will, unthinking, make a lot of functions extern, while they could have been static. An explicit 'export' could force you to think about it. -- Jack Jansen, jack@mcvax.UUCP The shell is my oyster.