Re: C syntax errors

Hi, Frank:

Not making any excuses for C -- but this web site and examples seem to 
be based on "K & R" C --  and no mention of "Second Edition" (aka. ANSI 
C) -- so that would be the early C language as defined by Dennis Ritchie 
in the early versions of Unix.  The early C language had plenty of  
ambiguities that were only later resolved as part of the ANSI 
standardization process.

I don't think the IBM ILE C compiler even claims to support that early 
dialect of C.  The ILE C compiler does have an *ANSI option for the 
LANGLVL parameter.   But no mention of any earlier dialects.

And I am not even sure these examples would even compile, even if you 
could find an old C compiler from that era (we are talking about the 
later half ot he 1970s.) =-O

Good luck,

Mark S. Waterbury

 > On 1/17/2014 5:38 PM, frank kolmann wrote:
> I am new to C.
>
> Given that C compilers throw up Syntax errors at seemingly random places,
> how do experienced programmers cope?
> Any advice will be most welcome.
> -rant on-
> To me C is the antithesis of the KISS principal.  Given the convolutions
> possible in C code I wonder how are any C programs written at all.
> It seems that you need an ability to decompile C code in your head. The
> forwards and backwards nature of deciphering a C definition is so arcane
> that the only reason I can think why anyone would have designed such a
> language is to show 'look at me, arnt I clever'.
> C macro substitution seems to be a disaster waiting to happen. Who is
> clever enough to construct a macro that can accept arbitrary input and yet
> produce reliable results.
> -rant off-
> I fact I am trying to compile a bit of C code I found on the net  that
> attempts to translate C constructs into words but it fails on the iSeries
> with a syntax error.
> Presumable it has compiled elsewhere.
> http://www.c-program-example.com/2012/02/k-r-c-programs-exercise-5-20.html
>
> I though I was a programmer, I know Basic Fortran Cobol RPG(all variants)
> but I realise now that I am just a mere dabbler and there exist super
> beings with mystical abilities akin to sorcerers who program in C.
>
> Frank Kolmann

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