From: Joe Armstrong
Subject: Re: Compiler abstractions [was: Wanted: programming language for 9 yr old]
Date: Thu, 05 Oct 1995 00:00:00 +0000
Message-ID: <u6u45ob1w2.fsf@gordons.eua.ericsson.se>

In article <··········@lo-fan.jpl.nasa.gov> Erann Gat <gat> writes:

> >In article <··········@lo-fan.jpl.nasa.gov> Erann Gat <gat> writes:
> >   Sometimes 30000 + 30000 results in an error.  Sometimes it results in a
> >   negative number.
> >
> >This is only true in brain-dead languages.
> 
> Then I suppose you consider C a brain-dead language.  I can't say that I
> disagree with you, but it is the industry standard, and so I stand by my
> position that a knowledge of hardware limitations is essential to writing
> reliable software.
> 

    I disagree -

    How about ...

    "A    knowledge  of   hardware   limitations   is  essential  when
implementing reliable languages", and,

    Reliable systems should be written in reliable languages.

    Programming reliable systems in languages  which allow you to poke
around in the hardware is *not* a god idea.

    If you want to make sure you get integer arithmetic right use a
language with bugnums!

	- Joe