The C is dead, long live the C

[Adam Turk]

>I thought the point he was making was not that C is "dead," as in
nobody
uses it,
>only that C is "dead," in that it is a brick, or a foundation upon
which we
now are
>building. It is alive in the fact that much coding is done in C, yet it
is
dead in
>that Adam is urging us to move beyond C. We can only move beyond C if
we
>see it as it is: a single brick in the foundation...

Yes, C is like Latin. No nation on earth uses Latin as a common tongue.
Therefore, it never changes - it is dead. I am not blasting C, I am an
ardent supporter of the langauge and code almost entirely in it (and/or
C++, of course). C is something like THE cornerstone of the tower, the
one brick that without which the whole tower would be very short. C is
arguably the one language we cannot let go of. From it springs all other
contemporary languages.

>Look at Color Forth for a paradigm shift on where C's postcessor could
be
>taking us...

>http://www.colorforth.com/

Intriguing. I'll have to look at that further. Obviously an intelligent
man with some good ideas. I like the idea of color-based source. I
wonder how that could be extended.

Adam

If the Tao is great, then the operating system is great.  If the
operating system is great, then the compiler is great.  If the compiler
is great, then the application is great.  If the application is great,
then
the user is pleased and there is harmony in the world.
The Tao gave birth to machine language.  Machine language gave
birth
to the assembler.
The assembler gave birth to the compiler.  Now there are ten
thousand
languages.
Each language has its purpose, however humble.  Each language
expresses the Yin and Yang of software.  Each language has its place
within
the Tao.
But do not program in COBOL if you can avoid it.
-- Geoffrey James, "The Tao of Programming"