Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ficc!peter From: peter@ficc.uu.net (Peter da Silva) Newsgroups: comp.lang.fortran Subject: Re: i++, i+=1, i=i+1 Message-ID: <1531@ficc.uu.net> Date: 18 Sep 88 23:07:58 GMT References: <13583@mimsy.UUCP> <3697@lanl.gov> Organization: SCADA Lines: 30 In article <3697@lanl.gov>, jlg@lanl.gov (Jim Giles) writes: > Exponentiation should be an in-line function (if the compiler is capable). Agreed... > The C language design makes this impossible (pow() is an external, therefore > it must be possible for the user to substitute his own version at load time, > therefore it cannot be expanded in-line at compile time). This is not true. Just because something in 'C' has the form of a function does not mean it is forced to be a function: getchar() min()/max() on many machines feof() isprint() All of these are macros. Many compilers implement strcpy() and related functions inline just because this gives a speed advantage on certain types of problems (such as dhrystone :->). > A secondary objection is that > exponentiation is a mathematical operation for which mathematicians > and others have always had (and still expect) a shorthand syntax. This syntax is, however, not the one Fortran uses. The mathematical syntax for exponentiation is actually not displayable in ASCII text. -- Peter da Silva `-_-' Ferranti International Controls Corporation. "Have you hugged U your wolf today?" peter@ficc.uu.net