[Info-vax] Viable versus ideal programming languages

[Simon Clubley]

On 2022-03-21, Arne Vajhøj <arne at vajhoej.dk> wrote:
> On 3/21/2022 2:46 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>> 
>> I would say that C is a _viable_ programming language in that case,
>> but I would not say that it is an _ideal_ programming language.
>> 
>> You may end up using something that is viable but is not your preferred
>> language. This could be due to language availability across multiple
>> environments, the ability of the language to be easily called from
>> other languages, etc.
>> 
>> This is especially important when you are writing library code for
>> example. Consider that I can write a portable library in C, and I can
>> then compile it unchanged on VMS, Linux/FreeBSD/Unix, Windows, embedded
>> operating systems, bare metal ARM/MIPS/etc, and even 8/16-bit MCUs if
>> the library is small enough.
>> 
>> I can then easily call that C library from a wide range of languages
>> running on those multiple operating systems and environments. The language
>> also allows me to create code that runs both in kernel mode and user mode.
>> 
>> Name one other programming language that allows me to do all that.
>
> C compilers are available on most platforms.
>

I would be interested in knowing about a platform they are not
available on. You can even get them for GPUs...

> But how many percent of C programs are written so that they
> are actually guaranteed to work with all ISO compliant C compilers?
>

The point is that you have the option to write to those standards
and run your code everywhere you might want to.

And just for the record, I _really_ wish C was not the only language
I could say that about...

Simon.

-- 
Simon Clubley, clubley at remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.