rcd@ico.ISC.COM (Dick Dunn) (03/22/88)
OK, the paper "From Modula to Oberon" was somewhat interesting and
contained some valid points. It might actually be by Wirth...it is
certainly marked by Wirth's strong concern (some might say obsession)
with compiler simplicity. But how long can you take this sort of thing
seriously? Stop and think for a minute...eliminating enumerations,
subranges, even `for' loops??? retaining sets only in their most vexingly
machine-dependent form???
Nah, someone (whether Wirth himself or someone spoofing his ever-questing-
for-greater-simplicity style) is trying to put one Ober on us! Most
people know the name "Oberon" as a moon of Uranus...is someone "mooning"
us? (And as for Uranus, well...you know the jokes about that name.)
I looked at the paper seriously for a while, but the "silly factor" was
just too high. If we see a language spec, I'm betting that it comes out
on April 1.
--
Dick Dunn UUCP: {hao,nbires,cbosgd}!ico!rcd (303)449-2870
...Simpler is better.