Re: I need a new compiler...

In article <gi63hm324ng@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Michael Wojcik <mwojcik@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
docdwarf@xxxxxxxxx wrote:

If C, in fact, does *not* 'provide low-level access to memory' and is does
*not* have a 'primary use is for "system programming", including
implementing operating systems and embedded system applications, due to a
combination of desirable characteristics such as code portability and
efficiency, ability to access specific hardware addresses, ability to
"pun" types to match externally imposed data access requirements' then it
would seem that I am incorrect.

(quoted material above taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C_(programming_language) ... me, I'se jes' a
COBOL-codin' fool)

This is one of the dangers of using Wikipedia as a source: it is
frequently incorrect.

Correct or not, this is why sources are cited and URLS given.

In this case, it's wrong about "provid[ing]
low-level access to memory", which is not a feature of the C language.
It is a feature of some implementations of C, and some languages which
are "extended" versions of C.

ISO 9899-1999 is, of course, the authoritive source; but the
comp.lang.c FAQ would also have cleared up this misconception.

I have found something calling it'sself the comp.lang.c FAQ at
http://c-faq.com/ . This leads me to a section about pointers,
http://c-faq.com/ptrs/index.html , and that leads me to a question about
'what is the difference between arrays and pointers'
http://c-faq.com/aryptr/practdiff.html . From that page:

--begin quoted text:

A pointer is a reference to any data element (of a particular type)
anywhere.

--end quoted text

Now... if the reference provided by a pointer is one towards low-level
memory (a sub-set of 'anywhere') and if having a reference to a data
element allows for access to the data then C would appear, via
pointers, to allow low-level access to memory... but this, of course, is
Logic, not necessarily Computer Programming.

DD

.