Re: C syntax errors

[Narayanan Pillai <strqst400@xxxxxxxxx>]

Just tried compiling this on Linux and did not work either.

Pillai


On 01/17/2014 08:03 PM, Mark S Waterbury wrote:
> 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