Re: Looking for free memory pool software

"M" == Malcolm McLean <regniztar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes:

>> No, there doesn't need to be such an object. That's why I was
>> careful to say "a data structure that a programmer would
>> recognize as isomorphic to a stack."

M> So now you are quibbling about "object".

No, I'm quibbling about your erroneous belief that every C
implementation will necessarily have something obviously idenfiable as
a stack in it.

Because of the nature of function calls and the lack of coroutines in
C, there will necessarily be something in memory that is isomorphic
with a stack. This does not mean that there will be a stack.

M> Some pedants illuminate, other just insist on precise
M> definitions of terms, when in fact the English language isn't
M> structured like that. "object" is here being used as synonym
M> for "structure", as is English idiom, not to repeat the major
M> semantic word in consecutive sentences, because that makes the
M> language easier to understand. However there are no exact
M> synonyms. This is not a grammar group, just understand that
M> some of us has been trained in linguistics and know these
M> things, whilst most computer programmers have not.

I'm not quibbling over the word "object." One would think that
someone claiming to be "trained in linguistics" would have better
reading comprehension.

Further, if you're going to use "some of us has [sic] been trained in
linguistics" as an attempt to shut down those who disagree with you,
you should be prepared for the use of "some of us have been trained in
computer science" as an attempt to shut down your next bit of
wingnuttery -- or the next iteration of one of your previous bits of
wingnuttery. Or for someone to say, "you know, Malcolm, I've been
trained in linguistics and I speak, read, and write four languages,
and you're full of it." Whoops, I just did.

M> You and KB are pedants in the bad sense of the term.

In other words, "you're people who correct me when I'm talking out of
my ass." If you don't like being corrected, don't say things that are
flat-out wrong, and when you're corrected, learn from it.

M> In this case I was explaining how most data objects can be
M> structured in a stack, allowing a very simple and efficient
M> memory management paradigm.

Yes, and you referred to "the main C stack," and you were challenged
to provide a citation from the standard -- any C standard you like --
that indicates that C requires such a beast.

M> The question then arises, why not make the objects automatic?
M> However there is not much point using the standard's term
M> "automatic storage duration", because it may not be familiar,
M> as anyone with any common sense would realise.

Ah, but there is a point: it's correct, and it's precise. And using
it gives people who are unfamiliar with it an opportunity to learn it,
and to discover something of which you seem doggedly determined to
remain ignorant: that the common convention of "stack" and "heap" is
merely a convenient implementation detail.

Or would you advocate that we call symphonies and rhapsodies and
toccatas and arias and murder ballads all "songs," as imprecise as
that is, because the correct terms might be unfamiliar to some
potential listener, somewhere?

Charlton






--
Charlton Wilbur
cwilbur@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

Relevant Pages

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