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#Word Perfect Pulls Plug

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#117171From: John DraperApr 3, 1988 12:03 AM
Yes, I agree that function prototyping is astep in the right direction (C only has one direction open to it :)), and yes, it will help develope code that has less errors. It is, however, my contention that Manx supplies other things that Lattice doesn't, that do the same thing… like make, to name just one. And of course there is SDB, which will help most people find a bad bug faster, and possibly teach them something in the process.
#117236From: Peter da SilvaApr 3, 1988 11:23 AM
> Sb: #116884-Word Perfect Pulls Plug I missed this chain. Who did WP pull the plug on? > Yes, I agree that function prototyping is astep in the right direction… > Manx supplies other things that Lattice doesn't, that do the same thing… Manx should have either implemented function prototyping, or left out structure passing to functions. Every so often I get bitten by: struct NewWindow nw = { … }; window = OpenWindow(nw); or something like that. Structure assignment and return don't cause these problems because those operations are type-checked. The moral: You can't have old C and ANSI too. > [C has only one direction to go] There have been serious suggestions to replace char *(*foo)(); with foo: pointer to function returning pointer to char; by people who don't realise the chaos that would ensue. There are lots of directions C can go other than up…
#117289From: John DraperApr 3, 1988 5:26 PM
Whil I do indulge in hyperbole at times, I was fairly serious when I said that C only has one direction to go. True, there are ways to make it worse, and the one you mentioned is a good example of trying to fit non-C things into C. I do think though, that the more things that can be standardized, and the more that can be defined properly without leaving things to the compiler writer, the better off the language will be.
#117289From: John DraperApr 3, 1988 5:26 PM
Whil I do indulge in hyperbole at times, I was fairly serious when I said that C only has one direction to go. True, there are ways to make it worse, and the one you mentioned is a good example of trying to fit non-C things into C. I do think though, that the more things that can be standardized, and the more that can be defined properly without leaving things to the compiler writer, the better off the language will be.
#117300From: John DraperApr 3, 1988 5:55 PM
Peter… forgot the first question in your message. There was a message left on one of the Atari forums that stated WordPerfect was pulling out of the Atari market due to piracy. Apparently they changed their mind after seeing the reaction to it.
#117300From: John DraperApr 3, 1988 5:55 PM
Peter… forgot the first question in your message. There was a message left on one of the Atari forums that stated WordPerfect was pulling out of the Atari market due to piracy. Apparently they changed their mind after seeing the reaction to it.
#117236From: Peter da SilvaApr 3, 1988 11:23 AM
> Sb: #116884-Word Perfect Pulls Plug I missed this chain. Who did WP pull the plug on? > Yes, I agree that function prototyping is astep in the right direction… > Manx supplies other things that Lattice doesn't, that do the same thing… Manx should have either implemented function prototyping, or left out structure passing to functions. Every so often I get bitten by: struct NewWindow nw = { … }; window = OpenWindow(nw); or something like that. Structure assignment and return don't cause these problems because those operations are type-checked. The moral: You can't have old C and ANSI too. > [C has only one direction to go] There have been serious suggestions to replace char *(*foo)(); with foo: pointer to function returning pointer to char; by people who don't realise the chaos that would ensue. There are lots of directions C can go other than up…
#117513From: Lee JohnsonApr 5, 1988 12:51 AM
Except of course that SDB also has bugs of its own! 🙂 P.S. In the great Lattice vs. Manx debate, my vote goes to Manx, bugs not withstanding. I started with Lattice and moved to Manx later. I find it to be somewhat more comfortable as a development environment. — L.
#117513From: Lee JohnsonApr 5, 1988 12:51 AM
Except of course that SDB also has bugs of its own! 🙂 P.S. In the great Lattice vs. Manx debate, my vote goes to Manx, bugs not withstanding. I started with Lattice and moved to Manx later. I find it to be somewhat more comfortable as a development environment. — L.