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From: Robert A Duff <bobduff@shell01.TheWorld.com>
Subject: Re: Commercial C To Ada 95 compiler
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Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 21:37:44 GMT
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Date: 2002-06-10T21:37:44+00:00
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Wes Groleau <wesgroleau@despammed.com> writes:

> > It seems to me making the implicit conversions into expliccit conversions
> > would be "unhiding" them.  Some standard comment text to indicate an
> > unreviewed conversion could be inserted in the output source.
> 
> What I'm saying is that in C, implicit conversions
> are three kinds:
> 
> 1. Intentional documented implementation decisions
> 2. Intentional undocumented implementation decisions
> 3. Careless mistakes, whether harmful or not.

Right, and surely the vast majority are not of kind 3...

> An automatic translator cannot tell the difference.
> Usually, neither can a human translator.  Making
> all of them explicit conversions hides the bugs
> unless you comment them as you say.
> 
> Not making any explicit will show all the bugs,
> but it forces you to identify and fix all the
> ones that are not bugs before you can compile.

...which is most of them.

- Bob