Re: The Decline of C/C++, the rise of X

From: Eric (anon21h_at_yahoo.co.uk)
Date: 07/26/04 

Date: 26 Jul 2004 07:31:28 -0700

Jim Rogers <jimmaureenrogers@att.net> wrote in message news:<Xns95312CF6F31jimmaureenrogers@127.0.0.1>...
> anon21h@yahoo.co.uk (Eric) wrote in
> news:5ed9ec27.0407242123.14a27d0b@posting.google.com:
>
> > An interesting (and valid) point. I guess its a matter of preference
> > (because using a wider tab width can reduce the problem you mention),
> > and what you are willing to sacrifice (readability in nested blocks as
> > Jim points out later, and poorer error messages on a syntax error, as
> > I mentioned earlier).
>
> I don't think you can attribute poorer error messages to source code
> formatting. Many good compilers specify the line number and the
> column number in the line where the error occurs. The ability to
> clearly identify the position of an error is a feature of a compiler
> and not of a language syntax.

You are right, sorry I wasn't clear. What I was referring to is how
the compiler can't give an accurate error message when one block
hasn't been closed:

  while ( blah )
  {

     if ( whatever ) {

  }

In the above, the if-statement is missing the closing "}" (we can tell
due to layout), but the compiler will thoroughly confuse the person by
saying that the while-statement is not closed off, when in fact the
person can see (due to indenting) it very clearly is.
 
<snip>

> The GNAT Ada compiler even flags mis-spelled identifiers
> and suggests which already-defined identifier you probably wanted.
> Other Ada compilers do not provide this level of heuristic help.

GNAT The Polite, eh? :-). The VB.NET 2005 editor comes with some
pretty dandy helping hands. It can identify a wide variety of
syntax/semantic errors, show you exactly how to correct the code, then
automatically rewrite it for you at the click of a button. Shweet :-)
 
> Jim Rogers

Cheers,
Eric Mutta :-)

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