Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
> I think
> it's been decades that I had a bug in a C program (a bug, not a
> "doesn't compile" error) that was due to an incorrectly typed
> parenthesis.

Yes, but compile errors still waste time, as was the case in my example.

> People are liable to make more typos when they have to type more.

I guess this is the fundamental disagreement.  I think I'm less likely to
get "end" wrong than "}".  By getting wrong I include the immediate
automatic checking the brain does of the key strokes and you visually do by
watching the screen as you type.  I consider these immediate processes to be
part of the act of typing, with a typo being a error that survives this
process.  See my other post about this automatic checking.

> I didn't quite oppose what Olin said. With the exception of a rather
> unimportant side-issue, I thought that what I wrote originally was
> pretty much the same as what Olin wrote, even though looked at from a
> slightly different angle. The only thing I really opposed was Olin's
> opposition (as expressed in the "not necessarily").

Now I'm really confused ;-)

> FWIW, Olin's Pascal-to-C compiler is a sort of elaborate pre-processor
> that even takes out the fall-through in the switch :) (Well, I haven't
> seen it, but I'm sure it does.)

It does, as Pascal is defined such that when a case exits, the whole CASE
statement is exited.  This is the equivalent of a implied BREAK at the end
of each case of a C SWITCH statement.

By the way, my translator is available via free download.  It is included in
the full runtime release available at http://www.embedinc.com/pic/dload.htm.
The source code is open and included in the "host source code and
everything" release on the same page.


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