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- Newsgroups: comp.lang.modula2
- Subject: Re: m2 for scientific computation
- Message-ID: <1992Aug26.062611.5114@urz.unibas.ch>
- From: frank@ifi.unibas.ch (Robert Frank)
- Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 06:26:11 GMT
- Reply-To: frank@ifi.unibas.ch
- Sender: news@urz.unibas.ch (USENET News System)
- References: <BtK7wI.MF3@ais.org>
- Organization: Institut fuer Informatik
- Nntp-Posting-Host: woodstock.ifi.unibas.ch
- Lines: 60
-
- In article <BtK7wI.MF3@ais.org> writes:
- > In article <1992Aug25.170550.6706@sequent.com> tima@sequent.com (Timothy Alan
- Anderson) writes:
- > >
- > >Modula2 is dead. It's a shame! I was just telling someone after looking at
- > >a C++ example, "Luckily I learned Modula-2 first. I do all this stuff
- > >allready, I just have to learn a different syntax".
- > >
- > >And let's all thank the Ada-2 folks for nailing the coffin shut...
- > >
- > >tima@sequent.com
- >
- > Right on, although Modula-2 is very much alive in many parts of the world,
- > in the United States, it is dead. I too am glad that I learned M-2 before I
- > learned C. I use many of the same principles I learned with M-2 in my C
- > programming.
- >
- > One of the biggest complaints I stil have with M-2 is that the type checking
- > is *too* strict.
- >
- > Why should I have to assign a pointer to an intermediate generic pointer,
- > when I all I want to do is convert the type of my pointer?
- >
- Err, type casting is also possible in Modula-2!
- > i.e.
- > wordpointer = integer pointer;
- > bytepointer = wordpointer;
- > character pointer= bytepointer;
-
- A good compiler should digest the following:
- character pointer = ADDRESS(word word pointer);
-
- Where 'word pointer' is simply casted (not converted) to type ADDRESS which is
- asignable to all pointers.
- >
- > vs. C's character pointer = (char *) integer pointer;
- >
- > Oh well. I loved M-2 very much, except for the typechecking details. I am
- > thankful that it taught me good style, but for me, M-2 will be a 'teaching'
-
- .. let alone the syntacticall nesting of procedures...
-
- > language, just like it's grandfather language, Pascal.
- >
- >
- >
- > ------------------////////////////////\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\------------------
- > | Patrick Draper Disclaimer: I can't control my fingers, |
- > | draper@umcc.ais.org I can't control my toes! - Ramones |
- > | University of Michigan |
- > | Computer Club We are a nation of laws, not people |
- > ------------------\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\////////////////////------------------
-
- --
- Robert Frank tel. + (061) 321 99 67
- Institut fuer Informatik fax + (061) 321 99 15
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