case sensitivity

[Norman Diamond]

In article <1562 at jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU> c08_dta7 at jhunix.UUCP (TA7) writes:

>  2- If the compiler is case insensitive then many Pascal programmers will
>     create such horrors as: INT MAIN(INT ARGC, CHAR *ARGV[]) {}

I don't know any Pascal programmers who code like this.  I used to code
IBM mainframes like this because keypunches were monocase, but those
predated Pascal.

>  Also, there is the controvertial advantage: One may have a
>constant with the same name as a variable or a function.

Yup, that's a considerable advantage when you're maintaining someone
else's code.  You get to spend a lot longer reading lots more of his
program, so you become more familiar with it and you get paid more
(unless your overtime is free).  Yup, many advantages.

>I think the main reason for it is the general philosophy of C: You
>assume the programmer knows what he is doing. You give him tools that
>can be used to create a mess, and assume that the programmer is smart
>enough to be able to use this power to create efficient programs.

That's why you don't ever need a debugger, right?  And especially not
lint, right?  We certainly don't a programmer to have to SAY that he
knows what he's doing.  That might let us find out that he knew what
he MEANT to do, only his fingers hit the wrong keys.

Hmm, why did ANSI accept the idea of prototypes, and strong type
checking of structures?  We'd better get all those Pascal groupies
off the ANSI C committee!

Why does rn put "usr/lib/news/organization" in the Organization field
of my postings?  Obviously the programmer knew what he was doing.
I shouldn't go back and edit this one.

>As a
>result of this philosophy, there is no comparison between the size or
>efficiency of C programs with their Pascal counterparts.

Huh?

Norman Diamond, Sony Computer Science Lab (diamond%csl.sony.jp at relay.cs.net)
  The above opinions are my own.   |  Why are programmers criticized for
  If they're also your opinions,   |  re-inventing the wheel, when car
  you're infringing my copyright.  |  manufacturers are praised for it?