Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!osu-cis!att!ihnp4!ihlpf!nevin1
From: nevin1@ihlpf.ATT.COM (00704a-Liber)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++
Subject: Re: C++ file name extensions
Message-ID: <4676@ihlpf.ATT.COM>
Date: 6 May 88 23:35:54 GMT
References: <2757@calmasd.GE.COM>
Reply-To: nevin1@ihlpf.UUCP (00704a-Liber,N.J.)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories - Naperville, Illinois
Lines: 38
Keywords: C++ file name extensions

In article <2757@calmasd.GE.COM> pal@calmasd.GE.COM (Peter Lawrence) writes:

>How about using the same extensions as C. The intention of Bjourn Stroustroup
>as stated in the beginning of his book is that the C++ language is fully
>upward compatable with C.

This is not true!  It is *almost* a superset, but there are a number of
situations where this is not true.  Whether C++ can ever be a proper
superset of C remains to be seen (especially since C is changing right
now).  If this were true, then why is there a section in the C++ book about
incompatabilities with C (I'd quote some but I have loaned out my book)?

>Users should be replacing their C compilers with
>C++ compilers.

Only if you are conforming to C++ in your C programs.  For a lot of
existing C code, this extra pass maybe useless, or might even break
existing C code.

>This may not be happening immediately because of various
>temporary difficulties but it is obviously the direction of the future.

Maybe.  Although the original intention was to make C++ a 'better C', only
the future will tell if this goal is still reasonable.

>Implementors should not be locking users into maintaining two compilers and
>their associated intricacies with 'make' etc. when one compiler will do.

The implementors' aren't locking users into anything; it's the people who
don't think it's worth converting millions of lines of existing C code just
so it will pass the C++ translator/compiler cleanly and w/o error.  If you are
volunteering to do this task for all of us who have to maintain C code,
please let us know. :-)
-- 
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