Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!husc6!linus!alliant!rosenkra
From: rosenkra@Alliant.COM (Bill Rosenkranz)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Clearing memory [was Re: Another great quote from Mr. Good]
Message-ID: <2227@alliant.Alliant.COM>
Date: 15 Aug 88 18:32:33 GMT
References: <1103@atari.UUCP> <19880807215637.4.JRD@MOA.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> <366@bdt.UUCP>
Reply-To: rosenkra@alliant.UUCP (Bill Rosenkranz)
Organization: Alliant Computer Systems, Littleton, MA
Lines: 30

In article <366@bdt.UUCP> david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer) writes:
>In article <19880807215637.4.JRD@MOA.SCRC.Symbolics.COM> jrd@STONY-BROOK.SCRC.SYMBOLICS.COM (John R. Dunning) writes:
->>I believe it's a bug that programmers rely on undocumented features like
->>that. 
 [ good points deleted ]

->First some historical considerations:
->
->In C programs, it is common for UNIX hackers to expect uninititalized data
->to be zeroed, but this should be a function of the compiler startup code
->more than the C programmer.   However since the compiler writers found that
->TOS cleared the BSS for them, they probably removed the code in the startup.

 [ more good stuff deleted ]

->Now for a possible alternate solution to the clearing BSS problem:

 [ even more good stuff deleted ]

as soon as i got alan pratt's improved gemstart.s, i did 2 things: 1)include
the osbind.o traps (for gemdos/bios/xbios calls) so i wouldn't have to always
remember to link osbind.o 2) added code to zero bss (controlled by a global
switch much like the stksize global). i of course still use alcyon (slow but
capable).

->David Beckemeyer (david@bdt.uucp)	| "Don't call me Stupid!"

wouldn't dream of it, dave!

-bill