Re: simple vs complex languages

On 24 May 2003 20:07:47 -0400, Jack Crenshaw <jcrens@earthlink.net>
wrote:
[...]
>C used to allow functions to be declared later in the code than the
>calls to them. It doesn't, anymore. Today we use prototypes, which is
>a whole lot better deal. Pascal also allows prototypes -- otherwise
>one could never do forward references. So why is one language
>superior to the other in this respect? How is it that Pascal forces
>you to "write .. bottom-up," where C does not???
[...]
>[In the versions of Lisp that I know, a function doesn't have to be
>declared or defined until its called. That can make development a lot
>easier. -John]


It's interesting to note that the language C stole prototypes from
(C++) actually does not require prototypes (or any other kind of
forward declarations) when it comes to class members, probably because
class declarations cannot span compilation units.


Ziv.

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