From: Ken Garlington <73672.2025@COMPUSERVE.COM>
Subject: Easily-Read C++?
Date: Tue, 4 Oct 1994 23:00:23 EDT
Date: 1994-10-04T23:00:23-04:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <941005030023_73672.2025_DHR103-1@CompuServe.COM> (raw)
Robin Rowe <cpp@NETCOM.COM> writes:
<< Here's how I read a piece of C++ code:
if(!object) // "If not object [then]"
{ cerr<<object.ErrorMsg(); // "output object's error
} // message,"
else // "else"
{ object++; // "increment object."
}
So what's unnatural about this? Sounds like English to me. >>
Not that I'm a C++ expert, but I have noticed that a lot of C/C++ code looks
like Greek to me. Certainly, that stuff on the right reads like English to me
(is this normal C style to comment every line?) but the stuff on the left I
have to think about a little. On the other hand:
If Not(object) then
Text_IO.Put_Line (Error_Message (corresponding_to => object));
else
object := object + 1;
end if;
is easily read by _any_ engineer (never mind software engineer) on my project.
(Of course, I would have to explain what the "not" of a numeric value is,
maybe, but a more meaningful function name is probably a good idea in this
case.) In fact, it looks suspiciously like the English explanation of the C
code. Note that some of these engineers didn't take the math class where "++"
means "add one to the thing before the ++." However, "X = X + 1" is something
they got pretty early on. That colon hanging off the equal sign doesn't seem to
bother them much.
Has anyone tried a study like the following? Take some C++ code from Software
Development, or Embedded Systems Programming, or whatever. Write the Ada 9X
equivalent. Show the 9X code to C++ programmers who have never seen Ada, and
the C++ code to Ada programmers who haven't worked with C recently. Which set
of code would be understood more often?
next reply other threads:[~1994-10-05 3:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 43+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1994-10-05 3:00 Ken Garlington [this message]
1994-10-05 9:42 ` Easily-Read C++? Pierre Castori
1994-10-05 13:28 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-06 2:20 ` Benjamin Ketcham
[not found] ` <CxDL8H.KGE@csn.org>
[not found] ` <milodCxH2E4.7F4@netcom.com>
[not found] ` <CxHJv0.Kw0@csn.org>
[not found] ` <DAG.94Oct11080229@bellman.control.lth.se>
[not found] ` <37du0k$ir2@gnat.cs.nyu.edu>
1994-10-12 3:19 ` Attractive comments better? R_Tim_Coslet
1994-10-13 1:35 ` Michael Feldman
1994-10-12 17:03 ` Easily-Read C++? John DiCamillo
1994-10-05 14:26 ` Eric S. Sessoms
1994-10-05 17:47 ` Kevin Cline
1994-10-05 22:02 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-05 22:23 ` Richard Kenner
[not found] ` <124377@cup.portal.com>
1994-10-11 18:11 ` David Weller
1994-10-11 18:43 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-12 13:15 ` Norman H. Cohen
1994-10-12 14:10 ` Robert Firth
1994-10-13 19:33 ` John D. Reading
1994-10-13 0:51 ` Keith Thompson @pulsar
1994-10-05 18:24 ` Magnus Kempe
[not found] ` <EACHUS.94Oct6101347@spectre.mitre.org>
[not found] ` <371a3p$nos@gnat.cs.nyu.edu>
[not found] ` <1994Oct7.153254.29848@swlvx2.msd.ray.com>
[not found] ` <374uke$8mo@delphi.cs.ucla.edu>
[not found] ` <37bno4$ko4@gnat.cs.nyu.edu>
1994-10-11 13:00 ` Robert Firth
1994-10-11 13:44 ` Casper H.S. Dik
1994-10-11 19:03 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-12 16:38 ` John DiCamillo
1994-10-11 18:52 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-12 13:49 ` Norman H. Cohen
[not found] ` <37eej8$6ie@siberia.gatech.edu>
1994-10-11 18:55 ` Robert Dewar
1994-10-12 13:35 ` John M. Mills
1994-10-12 19:48 ` Robert Dewar
[not found] ` <CxFr5B.K1G@news.otago.ac.nz>
[not found] ` <DAG.94Oct10075533@bellman.control.lth.se>
1994-10-11 17:50 ` Norman H. Cohen
[not found] ` <373vd2$39n@theopolis.orl.mmc.com>
[not found] ` <CxBvq7.GrH@inmet.camb.inmet.com>
[not found] ` <37bnic$kj2@gnat.cs.nyu.edu>
1994-10-11 18:02 ` Norman H. Cohen
[not found] ` <1994Oct7.110309@di.epfl.ch>
[not found] ` <DAG.94Oct7204142@bellman.control.lth.se>
[not found] ` <1994Oct7.210111.4494@nosc.mil>
[not found] ` <374i3o$c87@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
1994-10-12 17:37 ` "Tag" (Was: Easily-Read C++? (NOT)) David Emery
[not found] <3719k1$11gt@watnews1.watson.ibm.com>
[not found] ` <85C92963672@annwfn.com>
1994-10-11 18:37 ` Easily-Read C++? Norman H. Cohen
1994-10-12 16:54 ` David Emery
1994-10-14 21:13 ` Kevin Cline
1994-10-21 14:38 ` Thomas M. Breuel
1994-10-22 3:10 ` Michael M. Bishop
1994-10-26 0:39 ` -mlc-+Schilling J.
1994-10-27 14:54 ` Bob Duff
1994-10-27 15:35 ` Richard Kenner
1994-10-27 23:09 ` Robert Dewar
1994-11-01 21:19 ` Adam Beneschan
1994-11-02 0:46 ` Bob Duff
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
1994-10-12 3:06 Easily-Read C++ Ken Garlington
1994-10-14 10:50 Easily-Read C++? Bob Wells #402
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