Re: question about linker

On 11/12/2024 16:51, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
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On 11.12.2024 17:47, David Brown wrote:
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On 11/12/2024 17:30, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
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On 11.12.2024 09:43, Ike Naar wrote:
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On 2024-12-09, Janis Papanagnou <janis_papanagnou+ng@hotmail.com> wrote:
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An unambiguous grammar is something quite essential;  how would you
parse code if it were ambiguous?

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Here's an ambiguity in the C grammar:
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[...]
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The following selection-statement is grammatically ambiguous:
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      if (E1) if (E2) S1 else S2

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Yes, the dangling else is a common ambiguity in many programming
languages.
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That's why I prefer languages with syntaxes like in Algol 68 or
Eiffel (for example).

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It is easy to avoid in a C-like language - simply require braces on "if"
statements, or at the very least, require them when there is an "else"
clause.

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Yes, sure.  But, I can't help, it smells like a workaround.
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Most C coding standards and style guides make that requirement
- not because the C compiler sees it as ambiguous, but because humans
often do.  (Or they misinterpret it.)

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Yes, true.  (We had that in our standards, too.)

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So here you finally acknowledge there may be ambiguity from a human
perspective.
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But when I try to make that very point, it's me [...]