Re: question about linker

On 11/12/2024 22:06, Keith Thompson wrote:

bart <bc@freeuk.com> writes:
[...]

You need input from a symbol table in order to parse C, a table that
the parser needs to maintain as it processes source code. That will
tell you whether a particular identifier is a typename or not.

 Yes.  (I've mentioned this a number of times.)
 

There are issues also with keywords like 'break'.

 What issues?

I see that the C grammar treats both kinds of 'break' as a jump. I for one generate two separate constructs for the two kinds. That requires keeping track of the stack of nested switch/while/for/dowhile statements.

If you're referring to the fact that break can apply either to a loop or
to a switch, that's a potential source of confusion, but it shouldn't be
a problem once you're aware of it.

It can be very much a problem. Suppose you have an if-else chain within a loop that contains loop-break. Later you upgrade it to switch. Now it no longer jumps to the end of the loop, but the end of the switch.
Even if aware of it, now you're stuck for getting to the end of the loop. It can also happen in reverse when you downgrade a switch to if-else. And to a lesser extent when you wrap a case-block containing 'break' with a loop.
I don't know why two different keywords weren't used for this instead of having to share.