From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f891f,9d58048b8113c00f X-Google-Attributes: gidf891f,public X-Google-Thread: 10cc59,9d58048b8113c00f X-Google-Attributes: gid10cc59,public X-Google-Thread: 101deb,b20bb06b63f6e65 X-Google-Attributes: gid101deb,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,9d58048b8113c00f X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,2e71cf22768a124d X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: jsa@organon.com (Jon S Anthony) Subject: Re: next "big" language?? (disagree) Date: 1996/06/18 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 160873724 sender: news@organon.com (news) references: <4p1l65$35qi@info4.rus.uni-stuttgart.de> organization: Organon Motives, Inc. newsgroups: comp.lang.pascal,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.pl1,comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-06-18T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article ag129@ucs.cam.ac.uk (A. Grant) writes: > In article dewar@cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes: > >A. Grant said > >"The point of assertions is not to print messages for the > >programmer. You can use them to allow the compiler to > >optimise safely..." > > >It is certainly true that assertions can be used for compiler optimization, > >but that's not what people want. > > What people want is for the compiler to do all the work, i.e. prove > that all array subscripts are valid, that all dereferenced pointers I basically agree with you here. Well, more or less. Well, you know, they probably would like it to do everything, like: program A: Setting: The Factory Task : Construct complete CIM and TQM system end A :-) > Why don't you like assertions enabling optimisation where > the compiler can prove the correctness of the assertion, i.e. > optimise it away? Then all you are doing is giving a hint to > the compiler about an optimisation strategy, without altering > the meaning of the program at all. I don't believe that Robert said the _he_ wouldn't like assertions allowed to do this, but that certain "other people" didn't. I find this incomprehensible also. And since GNAT (GNU Ada, which Robert had a significant hand in) has pragma Assert it would appear he agrees - at least at some level! :-) /Jon -- Jon Anthony Organon Motives, Inc. 1 Williston Road, Suite 4 Belmont, MA 02178 617.484.3383 jsa@organon.com