Re: C++ sucks for games

From: Jerry Coffin (jcoffin_at_taeus.com)
Date: 11/03/04 

Date: 3 Nov 2004 10:58:46 -0800

Cameron MacKinnon <cmackin+nn@clearspot.net> wrote in message news:<qI-dnaIkSstJaBjcRVn-tA@golden.net>...

[ ... ]

> Why bother arguing about shift/reduce and reduce/reduce conflicts and
> the de facto and de jure meanings of e.g. a[x+++y] = x+++y; - every
> language has a wart or two in the corner cases, and C defenders are just
> going to reply that such things are bad style and not done anyway.

Those weren't the cases I was talking about -- in fact, none of what
you've cited above is really an ambiguity either.

There are, however, ambiguities to be found, such as:

a b(c);

In C++, this could be either a definition of b as an object of type a,
with c as an initializer, OR it could be a declaration of b as a
function that returns an a and takes a c as a parameter. There are a
number of other examples along this line, but (at least from a
viewpoint of pure syntax) these are real ambiguities. C++ has a fairly
simple rule about how to deal with all of them, but even though the
rule itself is simple, implementing it is anything but, and is
semantic, not syntactical -- the syntax itself really IS ambiguous.

[ ... ]

> Say, speaking of citing, don't you still owe us one from your claim that
> "[t]ests have repeatedly shown that C is far more readable than Lisp."

Where do you find a mention (by anybody) of citing anything?

In any case, I never said or implied that I'd provide citations. I
said those were results from tests that I conducted. I conducted the
tests for a (temporary) employer, so I'm pretty sure I couldn't
(legally) publish the results without their permission. Since that
company went under in the .com bust I'm not even sure whose permission
I'd need at this point.

In the end, I'm reasonably certain other tests have been done, but if
you want them, you'll have to find them yourself -- until or unless
there's some change in Lisp syntax that invalidates what I've already
done, I'm not much more interested in searching for such results than
I am in searching for new proofs that the world is round. 

-- 
    Later,
    Jerry.
The universe is a figment of its own imagination.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: C++ sucks for games
    ... There are, however, ambiguities to be found, such as: ... not syntactical -- the syntax itself really IS ambiguous. ... publish the results without their permission. ... I am in searching for new proofs that the world is round. ...
    (comp.lang.cpp)
  • Re: Report enhancements
    ... My point about PERFORM UNTIL EXIT is that I can certainly see the potential ... implementor, which potential doesn't exist for the PERFORM UNTIL FALSE case. ... providing the syntax with no ambiguities whatever. ...
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    (comp.lang.ruby)