3 ms·

So what? Chill out. We all know that C is not without flaws. I would use other languages if there were good alternatives. For example, I liked some parts of De

So what? Chill out. We all know that C is not without flaws. I would use other languages if there were good alternatives. For example, I liked some parts of Delphi, but it has too many show stoppers. For example, all local variables still have to be declared in the variables section before the function body, right? And are we still required to make type aliases to use pointer types in important places, such as function signatures? C is special in that it is the only language that I've known that has a minimalistic attitude, resulting in a shitty language (every language is shit!) whose problems we can actually work around in practice.

pjmlp 7y ago
Just like C used to declare variables until C99. Delphi is not Go, you can declare variables at the point of use nowadays. Just like you can declare pointer types in function signatures, which would fail my code review, as those things tend to get out of hand. Minimalist attitude leads to write only code bases, where it is impossible to maintain on long term projects with regular rotating team members, as it usually happens in most multinationals. A workaround done today is a security exploit waiting to happen tomorrow.
- jstimpfle 7y ago
  > Delphi is not Go, you can declare variables at the point of use nowadays. Oh, it seems they introduced it in 2018, some time after I quit my 6-months Delphi stint. http://blog.marcocantu.com/blog/2018-october-inline-variables-delphi.html http://blog.marcocantu.com/blog/2018-october-inline-variable... So, given the age of Delphi (and Pascal!), Go still has plenty of time to be quicker. Not sure what's missing from it, though. Of course, I'm sure you knew all of that, and could have just mentioned it. But maybe you just want to convince people of unrealistic propositions, and claim that some obscure technologies were more practical than they really are. > Just like C used to declare variables until C99. 1. C99 was 20 years ago, 19 years before Delphi. 2. What you say is wrong. You could declare variables at the start of any block since forever (I think it's standardized in C89). 3. What matters is compilers in practice, and I'm pretty sure they allowed you to declare variables anywhere, and also "for (int i..." (which is C99) since forever (as an extension). > write only code bases such as C++ code bases? > regular rotating team members I've just never seen that not becoming a mess > A workaround done today is a security exploit waiting to happen tomorrow. I'm still waiting for my code review. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21290314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21290314 . For a start, where are my terrible workarounds?

pjmlp 7y ago

Just like C used to declare variables until C99. Delphi is not Go, you can declare variables at the point of use nowadays. Just like you can declare pointer types in function signatures, which would fail my code review, as those things tend to get out of hand. Minimalist attitude leads to write only code bases, where it is impossible to maintain on long term projects with regular rotating team members, as it usually happens in most multinationals. A workaround done today is a security exploit waiting to happen tomorrow.

jstimpfle 7y ago
> Delphi is not Go, you can declare variables at the point of use nowadays. Oh, it seems they introduced it in 2018, some time after I quit my 6-months Delphi stint. http://blog.marcocantu.com/blog/2018-october-inline-variables-delphi.html http://blog.marcocantu.com/blog/2018-october-inline-variable... So, given the age of Delphi (and Pascal!), Go still has plenty of time to be quicker. Not sure what's missing from it, though. Of course, I'm sure you knew all of that, and could have just mentioned it. But maybe you just want to convince people of unrealistic propositions, and claim that some obscure technologies were more practical than they really are. > Just like C used to declare variables until C99. 1. C99 was 20 years ago, 19 years before Delphi. 2. What you say is wrong. You could declare variables at the start of any block since forever (I think it's standardized in C89). 3. What matters is compilers in practice, and I'm pretty sure they allowed you to declare variables anywhere, and also "for (int i..." (which is C99) since forever (as an extension). > write only code bases such as C++ code bases? > regular rotating team members I've just never seen that not becoming a mess > A workaround done today is a security exploit waiting to happen tomorrow. I'm still waiting for my code review. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21290314 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21290314 . For a start, where are my terrible workarounds?