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> UNIX and C being available as free beer since their inception (actually 6th edition) kind of outnumbers all the other possible reasons. That would only expl

by rualca 5y ago

> UNIX and C being available as free beer since their inception (actually 6th edition) kind of outnumbers all the other possible reasons. That would only explain why C featured as one of the choices on the table. But from that point on, people like you and me made conscious decisions based on their requirements and preferences, and C frequently was everyone's top choice.

pjmlp 5y ago
Just like JavaScript is frequently everyone's top choice for the browser, and PHP is frequently everyone's top choice for making their websites dynamic in most ISPs. Quality is surely not the common factor to all those top choices, rather being the platform owners, with all that it entails to the surrounding ecosystem.
- rualca 5y ago
  > Just like JavaScript is frequently everyone's top choice for the browser No, not really, and frankly this feels like a disingenuous comparison done in bad faith. I'm sure you know that, unlike C, javascript is pretty much the only option on the table if your goal is to produce anything remotely resembling production code. Also, as you certainly are aware, that's far from the case with C. In fact, you should certainly be aware that one of the most popular compiler toolkits there is, and one which has been the de facto standard for a few decades now, offers C only as a front-end, on par with languages such as Ada, which already was around for close to a decade before C's first international standard was published. Thus, you'll need to come up with an explanation of why people repeatedly pick C over well established languages explicitly designed to meet he requirements you favour, and one which is already around for four decades, and is already standard and widely available and enjoys some adoption in some fields. But in spite of it everyone still picks C over it.
  - pjmlp 5y ago
    C is the only option in UNIX/POSIX platforms like 99% of the time. The other being C++, which happens to be for better or worse, almost copy-paste compatible with C89, also also a UNIX child born a couple of offices down the corridor. Interesting that you pick Ada, given how outrageous the compilers used to cost, versus the freebie C compiler that already came on the box, and cleverly washout the complaints on the FOOS community that won't touch GNAT due to licensing FUD. Who is on bad faith here?

by rualca 5y ago

pjmlp 5y ago

Just like JavaScript is frequently everyone's top choice for the browser, and PHP is frequently everyone's top choice for making their websites dynamic in most ISPs. Quality is surely not the common factor to all those top choices, rather being the platform owners, with all that it entails to the surrounding ecosystem.

rualca 5y ago
> Just like JavaScript is frequently everyone's top choice for the browser No, not really, and frankly this feels like a disingenuous comparison done in bad faith. I'm sure you know that, unlike C, javascript is pretty much the only option on the table if your goal is to produce anything remotely resembling production code. Also, as you certainly are aware, that's far from the case with C. In fact, you should certainly be aware that one of the most popular compiler toolkits there is, and one which has been the de facto standard for a few decades now, offers C only as a front-end, on par with languages such as Ada, which already was around for close to a decade before C's first international standard was published. Thus, you'll need to come up with an explanation of why people repeatedly pick C over well established languages explicitly designed to meet he requirements you favour, and one which is already around for four decades, and is already standard and widely available and enjoys some adoption in some fields. But in spite of it everyone still picks C over it.
- pjmlp 5y ago
  C is the only option in UNIX/POSIX platforms like 99% of the time. The other being C++, which happens to be for better or worse, almost copy-paste compatible with C89, also also a UNIX child born a couple of offices down the corridor. Interesting that you pick Ada, given how outrageous the compilers used to cost, versus the freebie C compiler that already came on the box, and cleverly washout the complaints on the FOOS community that won't touch GNAT due to licensing FUD. Who is on bad faith here?