View all newsletters
Receive our newsletter - data, insights and analysis delivered to you
  1. Technology
May 2, 1988

PROPOSED ANSI C LANGUAGE STANDARD DRAWS CRITICISM AS COMMENT PERIOD ENDS

By CBR Staff Writer

With most microcomputer applications – word processors, spreadsheets, databases – written in C these days, concern about standards for the language extends well beyond the Unix community. The time allowed for public comments on the proposed ANSI X3J11 C programming language standard has just closed, and as it dis, voices of doubt and dissent were being raised: the loudest from Dennis Ritchie, author (along with Brian Kernighan) of the original C language specification team at AT&T Bell Laboratories. Ritchie pointed to several flaws in the document inconsistancies caused by type qualifiers such as ‘const’ and ‘volatile’, and the use of ‘noalias’ pointers, which he said is a licence for the compiler to undertake agressive opimisations that are completely legal by the committee’s rules, but make hash of apparently safe programs; the confused attempt to improve optimisation by pinning a new qualifier on objects spoils the language. Ritchie’s comments were endorsed by Jeffrey Barth, a vice-president at Silicon Valley Software. There are too many unaddressed items, it doesn’t say a thing about the important issues. Barth said the standard lay somewhere in between the very good, very specific Fortran standard document, that has the answer to most questions, and the Pascal standard, which he rates as terrible: but every word has been treated as if its the Bible. Ritchie warns that the ANSI committee is in danger of ratifying a language specification that no-one can possibly embody in a useful compiler. According to Barth, most compiler developers, including Silicon Valley Software, will implement a compile-time flag that when set will conform to the new standard. For a long time the main demand will be for the traditional K&R C specification, he predicted.

Content from our partners
How businesses can safeguard themselves on the cyber frontline
How hackers’ tactics are evolving in an increasingly complex landscape
Green for go: Transforming trade in the UK

Websites in our network
Select and enter your corporate email address Tech Monitor's research, insight and analysis examines the frontiers of digital transformation to help tech leaders navigate the future. Our Changelog newsletter delivers our best work to your inbox every week.
  • CIO
  • CTO
  • CISO
  • CSO
  • CFO
  • CDO
  • CEO
  • Architect Founder
  • MD
  • Director
  • Manager
  • Other
Visit our privacy policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.
THANK YOU