rgh@inmet.UUCP (06/23/88)
Unary plus was orginally added to the ANSI draft standard for symmetry with unary minus. When we got concerned about being able to force grouping, X3J11 decided to ascribe grouping semantics to unary plus. (Other options were to mandate grouping only for float operations, or honor parentheses like every other language. The unary plus route seemed least objectionable.) This decision raised a lot of negative response in the first public review. In response, the committee thrashed through the issue again, decided that honoring parentheses wasn't so bad, and removed the grouping semantics from the unary operator. This all got through the second public review with only minor grumblings and a few pats on the back. So unary plus is in the draft standard, for symmetry with unary minus. Randy Hudson rgh@inmet.inmet.com