[comp.sys.amiga.programmer] ANSI Compatibility

xanthian@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Kent Paul Dolan) (02/13/91)

 jdickson@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Jeff Dickson) writes:

> Ok. You did not choose ANSI (at least not all of you). SAS offered
> ANSI 'C' before MANX did. That was fine. Those who wanted strictor
> type checking chose SAS, those who didn't stuck with/chose MANX. Then
> for some strange reason, almost like ANSI compatibility had been
> proclaimed thee thing, MANX decides to pull the rug out from under its
> many faithful users.
...
> I apologise, because now-a-days new 'C' compiler buyers don't have a
> choice. I'm just mad, because I liked the way it isn't anymore.
...
> Portable to what? Really doubt that portability is an issue with Amiga
> specific source code.
...

Oops!  All my C code written on the Amiga is written to run on Unix and
other boxes; if I want to do anything with that scary Intuition stuff,
I drop right into Modula-2 where I get much better guidance from the
compiler, much faster compile and link speeds, and much more modular
code.

The move to ANSI C may be a learning curve, but it is pretty foolish to
be writing any code at all in old style C unless you just don't have
access to an ANSI C compiler (as at my Unix host site, which is why I
write code-to-port at home on the Amiga).  The ANSI C is pretty much a
pure win over K&R C.

> "BENEFIT" is in the eye of the beholder.

Indeed.

Kent, the man from xanth.
<xanthian@Zorch.SF-Bay.ORG> <xanthian@well.sf.ca.us>