Re: cat was Re: Malloc

Chris Dollin wrote:
Keith Thompson wrote:
Distinguishing between text and binary files at the file system level
is similar to distinguishing between, say, integer and real variables
in a program. You could have a language that doesn't make such a
distinction, and just applies different operators for integer addition
and floating-point addition -- and if you apply the wrong operator,
that's just too bad. (In fact, I think one of C's ancestors did this.
BCPL? B?)

Later versions of BCPL did. (Don't know if B did or not.) Actually,
earlier ones did too, if you squint a little: after all, you can
call any value, and if it isn't a function, tough.

According to <http://cm.bell-labs.com/cm/cs/who/dmr/kbman.html>, B
didn't support floating point variables.

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