[Info-vax] VAX Macro to C conversion

[Arne Vajhøj]

On 7/10/2019 10:50 AM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
> On 7/10/19 10:06 AM, Scott Dorsey wrote:
>> Bill Gunshannon  <bill.gunshannon at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> * no string type
>>>
>>> So what?  What's so great about a string type?  Fortran
>>> didn't have it until 77.  Pascal didn't have it until UCSD.
>>
>> Some of Arne's complaints about C are kind of silly, but this is a really
>> huge one.
>>
>> If you look at CERT advisories regarding security vulnerabilities in the
>> past few decades, you will see that the vast majority of them are the 
>> direct
>> consequence of poor management of null-terminated strings.
>>
>> I know, the null-terminated string thing seemed like a good idea, and 
>> easy
>> to graft onto C, but in the end it has been a terrible, terrible plan and
>> has cost us greatly.
> 
> 1.  Null Terminated Strings are not unique to C.

True.

But most common languages today do have a string type that does not rely
on zero termination.

> 2.  The competent programmer knows all of this in the first place
>      and should write his programs accordingly.  Just because the
>      language doesn't range check automatically (COBOL doesn't
>      either, probably for the same reason) doesn't mean the
>      programmer can't  or shouldn't.

The programmer should.

Almost all programmers try to do it.

But no matter their good intentions, then sometimes they miss
something.

Arne