rfink@eng.umd.edu (Russell A. Fink) (09/14/90)
>C, for most tasks, is either worse than - or >break-even - compared to Fortran. For the very few things that C does >better than Fortran, Modula 2 or Pascal are _much_ better than C. You want to write a recursive descent parser, nay, an image decompression, wait, an operating system utility, hold on, an X windows application in Pascal? And have it execute by the time your pizza arrives? From Domino's in SIBERIA? C was designed to be simple. Although I am somewhat new to it, I find that like WordPerfect 5.0 versus Easy (for those of you familiar with WP's), the less, the better, meaning that C is as much to you as you need it to be. If the lack of strings and other inherent data types is bothering you, I'd suggest referencing some available modules (#include's) to satisfy your need. With the proper includes, C can be MADE to look like any other functional language (the depth of this statement is limited only to the imagination of the programmer). When I first began with C, I was confused and angry with whoever came up with such a technique of torture. But as I was forced to learn it for a grade, a few quiet evenings of K&R chapter 1 made me realize that the basics were all there: I/O (getchar, putchar), math ops, functions/procedures, file access, logical operations, and structure. As I mastered these primary concepts, I moved on to less inherent operations such as printf, scanf. The point is, C is less frightening to a new user that is willing to spend some time with it than to a new user who is looking for a *familiar* language. As I grew with C, someone dropped the books of X on me (spent near well the next month in intensive care), and I began to realize how true the words 'simple is better' were. In X, all the wonderful things you need to create windows with are hidden in #includes, such that the programmer needs only the abstract definitions to get use out of X. As my knowledge of X increased, so did my knowledge of C. But there is a Zeno's paradox of sorts with learning C: no matter how good you get, there is always something more to learn. Same with X. Same with life. Anyhow, I was relieved that my learning X was not limited to my learning C; the setup is such that when you need something to work in X, you only need to learn the use of that function -- there are no COMMON statements to worry about, no memory segmentation bullspit to mess with -- in general, nothing new to learn about C. THat is only one example in which 'simple is better'. Take heart if you're troubles with C caused you to bash it. I've been there, but I assure you, with less formalism, C KICKS BUTT!!!!! (just to stir up the oatmeal, no personal offense intended) -- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Maryversity of Uniland? Cute, real cute. Russ Fink rfink@eng.umd.edu Dep't of Civil Engineering
rlk@telesoft.com (Bob Kitzberger @sation) (09/15/90)
In article <1990Sep13.235216.16296@eng.umd.edu>, Russell A. Fink writes: > > With the proper includes, C can be MADE to look like any other functional > language > > As I grew with C, someone dropped the books of X on me (spent near well > the next month in intensive care), and I began to realize how true the > words 'simple is better' were. > [and other hymns of praise for C] Please -- I just ate lunch. Followups to a more appropriate newsgroup. .Bob. -- Bob Kitzberger Internet : rlk@telesoft.com TeleSoft uucp : ...!ucsd.ucsd.edu!telesoft!rlk 5959 Cornerstone Court West San Diego, CA 92121-9891 "There's too much caffeine in your bloodstream..." (619) 457-2700 x163 -- The Smiths ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
merriman@ccavax.camb.com (09/28/90)
In article <1990Sep13.235216.16296@eng.umd.edu>, rfink@eng.umd.edu (Russell A. Fink) writes: >>C, for most tasks, is either worse than - or >>break-even - compared to Fortran. For the very few things that C does >>better than Fortran, Modula 2 or Pascal are _much_ better than C. > > You want to write a recursive descent parser, nay, an image decompression, > wait, an operating system utility, hold on, an X windows application in > Pascal? And have it execute by the time your pizza arrives? From > Domino's in SIBERIA? [much drivel deleted] > > C KICKS BUTT!!!!! I can assure you, from experience based on actual measurement, that this does not hold in all environments or with all language implementations.