Re: encapsulating directory operations

On 2025-05-22, Paul Edwards <mutazilah@gmail.com> wrote:

"Keith Thompson" <Keith.S.Thompson+u@gmail.com> wrote in message

I have now been given two pointers. Common Lisp,
and C++ 17. Do you have any comment based on
your knowledge of those?

>
You've been given at least three; you didn't mention POSIX.

>
No. That's not a language standard. Only in Common Lisp
and C++ 17, so far mentioned, has the actual language
standard - rightly or wrongly - another outstanding question -
was it right or not? - covered directories.

POSIX is a language extension; it extends the Library clause of ISO C
with a myriad of new header files, functions, types and macros.

We can meaningfully talk about a language called "POSIX C",
distinct from ISO C due to (1) a richer Library clause and (2)
certain requirements in POSIX which override certain implementation
liberties in ISO C. E.g. I (may be wrong but I) think that POSIX doesn't
allow int to be 16 bits wide. In other words, POSIX actually has
some language-level requirements in regard to C.

Library and Language are inseparable.

In the case of above-mentioned Common Lisp, you can't even tell them
apart.  Nothing is built into the language other than a small set of
special forms; the hundreds of other symbols can all be regared as
library material: defun for defining functions is a macro, and hence a
library feature. Basic mathematic operators like + are all functions,
and so library features.

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