CompuServe Messages

Jane – you asked about the C Toolshed. Please look at it before you choose a style. Steve is right on one thing – C style is a hot subject; having said that, let me also say that the advice on style I've seen here so far ranged from bad to awful, in my opinion. C style has a *major* effect on how well you will be able to write software – and don't you believe anyone who tells you different. In many ways, it's similar to writing for people – the better you write, the easier it will be to go back later and change things, and the easier it will be to understand what it was you wrote previously. It also has a major effect on the reader (who is the computer in this case) in that the better you express yourself, the more concisely and cleanly, the more likely it is that the reader will "get the point", and that you will be sure that the point you made was the one you WANTED to make. I view C style as critical. I view the Unix, K&R, and wack-hacker styles as some of the things that drove people to more structured languages… when C really has everything going for it, including a great deal of freedom of choice which (like real writing, and life) you can use to screw yourself until you don't know whether you're coming or going. Me? Opinoinated? <grin> er, yeh.. opinionated. Ben Amateur Radio Callsign is A A 7 A S