From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: lm@mcvoy.com (Larry McVoy) Date: Sun, 28 Aug 2016 17:42:37 -0700 Subject: [TUHS] Comments on "C" In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <20160829004237.GC14366@mcvoy.com> I'm with Marc. I think the C syntax is really pleasant, and while I enjoyed writing PDP-11 assembler (by far my favorite out the ones I've done which include VAX, m68k, 32032, z80, sparc, some x86 but not much), I don't want go back to writing assembler unless I have to. C is a pleasant language that easily compiles to assembler. I happen to like it so much I made a scripting language that looks very C like, with some perl pleasantness tossed in (without all the dollar signs). Check it out at http://www.little-lang.org 100% open source, actively developed, yada, yada. On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 06:37:21PM -0600, Marc Rochkind wrote: > Yeah, OK, another one of those clever glib UNIXy aphorisms. > > But, as anyone who's actually programmed seriously in assembly language > knows, C is not assembler. It is a system programming language low enough > to be used for things that were once done in assembler, the most important > of which is an OS. > > So, for most of us, we no longer had to write in assembler. But that > doesn't mean C is assembler. > > So, are we just having fun over a few beers, or talking seriously? I like > both! > > --Marc Rochkind > > On Sun, Aug 28, 2016 at 12:21 PM, Dave Horsfall wrote: > > > Seen on another list... And I got quoted by Steve Bellovin :-) > > > > -- > > Dave Horsfall DTM (VK2KFU) "Those who don't understand security will > > suffer." > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > From: Kent Borg > > To: cryptography at metzdowd.com > > Subject: Re: [Cryptography] > > "NSA-linked Cisco exploit poses bigger threat than previously thought" > > > > On 08/25/2016 06:06 PM, Steven M. Bellovin wrote: > > > > > I first heard more or less that line from Doug McIlroy himself; he > > > called C the best assembler language he'd ever used. > > > > Ancient fun-fact: Years ago there was an article in Byte magazine > > describing how a useful subset of C could be directly assembled into 68000 > > code. Not compiled, assembled. > > > > C is a stunning assembly language. When those wild-eyed nerds at AT&T > > decided to write Unix not in assembly but in C (where was management!?), > > it was radical. But C was up to (down to?) the task, it was pioneering > > then and is still doing useful things decades later: From the fastest > > supercomputers to some pretty slim microcontrollers (plus a hell of a lot > > of Android devices) multitudes of computers run a Linux kernel compiled > > from the *same* C source code, with almost no assembly. Big-endian, > > little-endian: no matter. Different word lengths: no matter. > > > > That is one impressive cross-platform assembly language! > > > > Unfortunately, C is also a dangerous language that mortal programmers > > cannot reliably wield. > > > > -kb, the Kent who knows he is pressing his luck on a moderated > > cryptography mailing list, but C deserves a lot of respect, as it also > > deserves to be efficiently sent into a dignified retirement. > > > > _______________________________________________ > > The cryptography mailing list > > cryptography at metzdowd.com > > http://www.metzdowd.com/mailman/listinfo/cryptography > > > > -- --- Larry McVoy lm at mcvoy.com http://www.mcvoy.com/lm