4 ms·

> No, [C is not a high-level assembler], and it hasn't been for about 40 years. «C Is Not a Low-level Language Your computer is not a fast PDP-11.» some dude in

by kelas 3y ago

> No, [C is not a high-level assembler], and it hasn't been for about 40 years. «C Is Not a Low-level Language Your computer is not a fast PDP-11.» some dude in ACM Queue Please correct me if I’m wrong, but this ACM rant seems to amount to blaming C language for the most disastrous embarrassment in the history of Intel Corp, i.e. spectre/meltdown. Well, thank you very much, but that’s just deranged thinking, or someone was on INTL payroll in 2018. but wow, thank you, what a gem. he then proceeds to elucidate how C is broken and again not low-level enough, because his 1337 skills require knowing the cache line size. well, this is absolutely true, captain Chisnall. but what is complete and utter nonsense is the conclusion that C is retarded by not letting the programmer manipulate the cache directly: “The cache is, as its name implies, hidden from the programmer and so is not visible to C. Efficient use of the cache is one of the most important ways of making code run quickly on a modern processor, yet this is completely hidden by the abstract machine, and programmers must rely on knowing implementation details of the cache (for example, two values that are 64-byte-aligned may end up in the same cache line) to write efficient code.“ This deserves a WAT.

lproven 3y ago
It seems to me that you take a fundamentalist view on this: anything which attempts to point out the problems, inadequacies, or failings of C and possibly of xNix in general is heresy, to be mocked rather than addressed. I have often encountered this attitude in real life from fundie/evangelical christians, but in the tech world, it's also a thing among a certain hardcore xNix enthusiast. I feel that I have encountered one here, and you are not willing or not able to engage in discussion. You merely want to proselytise at me. I am not interested in that, so I won't comment further. For me, as an xNix user for some 35Y and a full-time writer about xNix for a decade or more, it's just one of many interesting, significant or valuable OS ideas, and C is a rather poor and deeply flawed language which is a vastly expensive handicap on the computer industry.

by kelas 3y ago

lproven 3y ago

It seems to me that you take a fundamentalist view on this: anything which attempts to point out the problems, inadequacies, or failings of C and possibly of xNix in general is heresy, to be mocked rather than addressed. I have often encountered this attitude in real life from fundie/evangelical christians, but in the tech world, it's also a thing among a certain hardcore xNix enthusiast. I feel that I have encountered one here, and you are not willing or not able to engage in discussion. You merely want to proselytise at me. I am not interested in that, so I won't comment further. For me, as an xNix user for some 35Y and a full-time writer about xNix for a decade or more, it's just one of many interesting, significant or valuable OS ideas, and C is a rather poor and deeply flawed language which is a vastly expensive handicap on the computer industry.