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C Matters, but...

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 11:00

I came across this quote*:
Why C Matters
C is the low-level language that everyone must know. It can be seen as a portable assembly language, and as such it exposes the underlying machine and forces the student to understand clearly the relationship between software and hardware.

I don't see that the conclusion follows from the premise. C can be seen as a portable assembly language, but ``as such'' it doesn't necessary expose the underlying machine (is it portable or does it expose the machine?). I know piss-all about x86 but that's never stopped me from writing a C program. I think one needs to program for a microcontroller explicitly to get a feel for underlying architecture, preferably both a von Neumann-based architecture and something like the PIC (Hardard architecture).

The author kind of backpedals and says,
Finally, compilers (GCC for example) make it easy to examine the generated assembly code, which is an excellent tool for understanding machine language and architecture.

Um, yeah, reading non-portable assembly language does serve as an excellent tool for understanding chip architecture. Then whence C?

* http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/CrossTalk/2008/01/0801DewarSchonberg.html

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 11:03

C might help students who have absolutely no knowledge of hardware whatsoever. But you're points are pretty good

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 11:08

>>1
Then whence C?
I think you've got it backwards, C is the source from which the compiler generates the assembly.

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 11:47

NOTES
       This document's use of whence is incorrect English, but maintained for his‐
       torical reasons.

~ % man lseek

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 11:56

>>1
Dr. Dewar and Dr. Schonberg are apparently idiots.  AdaCore Inc. probably won't last long as a company.

Oh, except they're publishing in an "approved Department of Defense journal." In that case they have nothing to worry about so long as Americans are dying.

Name: Anonymous 2009-06-15 12:23

>>4
whence: from what place, source, or cause
IOW what is the source of C in his justification.

Name: Anonymous 2013-01-18 23:42

/prog/ will be spammed continuously until further notice. we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Name: 2013-01-25 17:57

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