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

On Thu, 30 Jun 2005 17:41:15 GMT, CBFalconer <cbfalconer@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

>jacob navia wrote:
>> Felix Kater wrote:
>>>
>>> when accessing the variables in a struct: What's the reason why
>>> in C newline you have -> and . instead of only . ? Are there
>>> cases in which the compiler couldn't figure out what to do?
>>
>> I think the answer is NO, there aren't any reasons why the
>> distinction exists since the compiler can always figure it out.
>>
>> If we would always use '.' and there was a pointer, the compiler
>> could test if we have instead of a structure, a pointer to a
>> structure, then generate a dereferencing of the pointer without
>> much trouble.
>
>It's a convenience, because of the relative operator precedence.
>It is easier and clearer to write:
>
> structxp->fieldf
>than
> (*structxp).fieldf

I think the OP was proposing that you could write
structxp.fieldf
even when structxp was a pointer to a struct. It's true that the
compiler knows whether the dereference is required, but imo it doesn't
fit with C philosophy (and don't ask me to define that ;-)

--
Al Balmer
Balmer Consulting
removebalmerconsultingthis@xxxxxxx
.

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