Hello all, I have been following the recent clashes between various participants (see the post "Compiling differences between C51 v7.03 and v8.06" or "introducing the smoked sardine complex" :) :) ). C was given, I think, a unjustified bash in that post. I wouldn't like to have been compelled to explicitly cast too often. Most potentially dangerous casts can be filtered out by a static code analyzer. Can you give an example of more strongly-typed languages than C that are used in embedded development?
Andy, all, I am a staunch believer that almost any programming language (except Cobol, maybe :) ), bestowed in the hands of a capable person, can get almost any job done! I don't have a problem with anybody bashing C, but other programming languages deserve a similar treatment (C++, for example, is much more dangerous to work with. classical example: transferring a pointer to a base class as a parameter to a function and treating it as an array! this is not defined). I thought that you were trying to say that certain problems can be solved better given a more strongly-typed tool. It's all a question of trade-off and capable hands, I think. Cactus Blip
Newer versions of C++ do have RTTI and more advanced cast operations to help a user that cares.
People who do not apply engineering will most probably fail with whatever tool they lay their hands on.
You can use FEM to simulate the stress on a mechanical structure. If the builder then decides to switch material, the FEM simulation will not help.
Still not clear exactly what you think was the "bash" against 'C'?
"I thought that you were trying to say that certain problems can be solved better given a more strongly-typed tool"
No, I don't think I would've said that!
I don't think it helps to solve the problem, but it can help to catch (potential) errors in the solution.
Whether there's a net benefit is, of course, the big question...
"I am a staunch believer that almost any programming language (except Cobol, maybe :) ), bestowed in the hands of a capable person, can get almost any job done!"
There's a well-known saying that a Real Programmer can write FORTRAN in any language...
;-)
There are groups of flat earth people on the 'Left' coast of the US that believe that Forth with objects is the only embedded typed language. If you don't like a data type just re-define it at run time ;-).
I had it with you! I'm going back to basics! That is, BASIC ;-)