Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watmath.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!kpmartin From: kpmartin@watmath.UUCP (Kevin Martin) Newsgroups: net.lang.c Subject: Other 'significant' blanks Message-ID: <10246@watmath.UUCP> Date: Sun, 9-Dec-84 10:43:16 EST Article-I.D.: watmath.10246 Posted: Sun Dec 9 10:43:16 1984 Date-Received: Mon, 10-Dec-84 02:31:09 EST Distribution: net Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 14 Should a compiler allow blanks between the 'op' and the '=' in an 'op=' operation? e.g. should a | = 4; be legal? What about other multi-character operators (like ++)? In this case, blanks are to be used to prevent ambiguity, i.e. a - -- b and a -- - b are both un-ambiguous. But if a blank is allowed between the two '-'s, these expressions both mean the same things (plural). There seems to be no good reason to allow such a blank, and for certain operators (such as --) allowing a blank would create (more) ambiguity. Perhaps the compiler which allows such blanks should just be called buggy. Kevin Martin, UofW Software Development Group