On 29-Dec-10 10:27, Byron Jeff wrote:
> C certainly has the ability to bash clarity down into the ground if a
> programmer so decides to want to do it. But there are times when clarity
> and compactness do not have to be at odds. Even something as simple as:
>
> a =3D b =3D c =3D d =3D 0;
>
> is perfectly readable yet compact. But it's only doable if assignment is =
an
> expression, and not a statement.

Not necessarily.  Python, for example, disallows assignment in=20
expressions but does allow assignments to stack up like that, as part of=20
the assignment statement syntax.

As a long-time C programmer, it initially really irritated me (and still=20
occasionally does) that Python doesn't allow assignment in expressions,=20
but I do see the point in favor of clarity (which is the stated reason=20
for the restriction).

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Steve Willoughby / steve@alchemy.com
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."
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--=20
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