Re: why use -> (not .) with pointers?

lawrence.jones@xxxxxxx wrote: 
Not anymore.  But back in the dark ages, C was much less concerned about
types than it is today and would allow pretty much *anything* as the
left operand of . or ->.  In that environment, the compiler couldn't
figure out what to do, so having two different operators was essential.


To me, it's still essential syntactically speaking.

Letting the compiler "guess" what you mean is a really, really bad idea
in general. Even when the case seems obvious to you.
.