First of all: I love C and think that it's beautiful. However, there is
at least one MAJOR flaw: the lack of a boolean type.
OK. Some of you might refer to C99 and its _Bool (what's up with the
uppercase 'B' anyway?) and the header you can include (apparently) to
get a real "bool". This isn't my point, however -- it should have been
there from the beginning.
Char is a small int. We all know that. However, "char some_bool = 0;"
simply feels wrong, and I think that most of you agree. Plus, it's
still too large.
"int some_bool = 0;" is what I -- and everyone else, I assume -- use
for bools. But an int is a very large data type for something that will
only ever be true or false (1 or 0). This really, really bugs me.
Why, back when C was designed, didn't they see a reason to build in a
boolean type into the language? Now it matters less, I guess, but back
then, there should have been very strong technical reasons. It just
doesn't make any sense whatsoever to me.
I have asked many people about this for quite some time, and they are
all just telling me that I'm silly for bringing it up. Why? It's not
that I NEED a bool to get anything done -- it's the principle. Saving
resources and coding a little more prettily is a Good Thing (TM) IMO.
So... can somebody properly explain this to me once and for all? I'm
sure there MUST be a logical explanation that nobody seems to really
understand. The madness must end.
bool some_bool = 0; /* How great it would be... */
Nov 3 '07
51  2975 
AommiK wrote:
I have asked many people about this for quite some time, and they are
all just telling me that I'm silly for bringing it up. Why? It's not
that I NEED a bool to get anything done -- it's the principle. Saving
resources and coding a little more prettily is a Good Thing (TM) IMO.
If the point is just pretty coding, then:
typedef int bool;
Or better:
typedef unsigned bool;
(Operations on unsigned values are often less expensive than signed ones)
JJ
João Jerónimo wrote:
AommiK wrote:
>I have asked many people about this for quite some time, and they are
all just telling me that I'm silly for bringing it up. Why? It's not
that I NEED a bool to get anything done -- it's the principle. Saving
resources and coding a little more prettily is a Good Thing (TM) IMO.
If the point is just pretty coding, then:
typedef int bool;
Or better:
typedef unsigned bool;
(Operations on unsigned values are often less expensive than signed ones)
They are?
Which operations, how much, and how often?
--
Chris "afflicted with a failure of imagination" Dollin
Hewlett-Packard Limited registered no:
registered office: Cain Road, Bracknell, Berks RG12 1HN 690597 England
On Monday 05 Nov 2007 10:22 pm Richard <rg****@gmail.c omwrote in
article <qb************ @news.individua l.net>:
João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
<snip>
> - C doesn't have built-in Garbage Collection because ASM languages
don't
support the concept either.
No, C doesnt have it because it didnt exist when C was invented and it
makes a mockery of efficiency IMO.
No. Garbage collection existed before C. LISP had it.
<snip>
Chris Dollin wrote:
>Or better:
typedef unsigned bool;
(Operations on unsigned values are often less expensive than signed ones)
They are?
Which operations, how much, and how often?
In reality, they don't matter for bools...
Multiplications and divisions.
JJ
On Monday 05 Nov 2007 10:59 pm João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.br>
wrote in article <47************ ***********@new s.sunsite.dk>:
Richard wrote:
>João Jerónimo wrote:
>> - C, natively, only knows how to deal with logical and arithmetic
data. That's because most processors only know that.
Is this without the standard library?
No! Don't tell me that C needs the standard library to do arithmetic!
I don't think so!
Some arithmetic operations may however be implemented as "magic"
function calls, essentially compiler magic, invisible from the
standpoint of Standard C. Extended width arithmetic is typically done
this way.
<snip>
santosh wrote:
On Monday 05 Nov 2007 10:22 pm Richard <rg****@gmail.c omwrote in
article <qb************ @news.individua l.net>:
>João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
<snip>
>> - C doesn't have built-in Garbage Collection because ASM languages
don't
support the concept either.
No, C doesnt have it because it didnt exist when C was invented and it
makes a mockery of efficiency IMO.
No. Garbage collection existed before C. LISP had it.
<snip>
I'm shocked! Can it be true that someone actually reads post from rg****@gmail.co m?
João Jerónimo wrote, On 05/11/07 17:49:
Chris Dollin wrote:
>>Or better:
typedef unsigned bool;
(Operations on unsigned values are often less expensive than signed ones)
They are?
Which operations, how much, and how often?
In reality, they don't matter for bools...
Multiplications and divisions.
On the processors where I have had an interest in the speed those were
no slower for signed than for unsigned. This shows that at the very
least your assertion is not true for all implementations .
--
Flash Gordon
Martin Ambuhl wrote:
santosh wrote:
>Richard <rg****@gmail.c omwrote:
.... snip ...
>>
>>No, C doesnt have it because it didnt exist when C was invented
and it makes a mockery of efficiency IMO.
No. Garbage collection existed before C. LISP had it.
<snip>
I'm shocked! Can it be true that someone actually reads post from
rg****@gmail.co m?
Once in a while I find he has made a direct reply to me (which
hasn't been quoted) and become curious about any improvement. Then
I mark that reply unread, and my next connection to the news-server
gets it. In general I find no improvement.
--
Chuck F (cbfalconer at maineline dot net)
<http://cbfalconer.home .att.net>
Try the download section.
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com
João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
Richard wrote:
<snip (some attribution manual replaced)>
>>João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
>> - C doesn't have built-in Garbage Collection because ASM languages don't
support the concept either.
No, C doesnt have it because it didnt exist when C was invented and it
makes a mockery of efficiency IMO.
Yes.
<snip>
- And, of course, it didn't exist when C was invented
Marvin L. Minsky. A Lisp garbage collector algorithm using serial
secondary storage. Technical Report Memo 58 (rev.), Project MAC, MIT,
Cambridge, MA, December 1963.
I don't claim that this is the first paper on GC, just that it
pre-dates C. There are dozens of papers about GC from the 60s and DMR
cites 1969-73 as the key design time for C.
--
Ben.
Ben Bacarisse <be********@bsb .me.ukwrites:
João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
>Richard wrote:
<snip (some attribution manual replaced)>
>>>João Jerónimo <j_*******@yaho o.com.brwrites:
- C doesn't have built-in Garbage Collection because ASM languages don't
support the concept either.
No, C doesnt have it because it didnt exist when C was invented and it
makes a mockery of efficiency IMO.
Yes.
<snip>
> - And, of course, it didn't exist when C was invented
Marvin L. Minsky. A Lisp garbage collector algorithm using serial
secondary storage. Technical Report Memo 58 (rev.), Project MAC, MIT,
Cambridge, MA, December 1963.
I don't claim that this is the first paper on GC, just that it
pre-dates C. There are dozens of papers about GC from the 60s and DMR
cites 1969-73 as the key design time for C.
What languages used GC at the time that C and its forefathers were
evolving? How do you see GC fitting into the "style" of C?
Putting GC into C would have been like interpreting assembler IMO .... This thread has been closed and replies have been disabled. Please start a new discussion. Similar topics | |
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zl2k
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