Re: New VSI post on Youtube

On 2024-08-19, chrisq <devzero@nospam.com> wrote:

On 8/15/24 13:34, Simon Clubley wrote:

 
To extend this, I also know the difference between signed and unsigned
variables and I have a default-unsigned approach unless I absolutely
_need_ a signed variable.
 
Unfortunately, a lot of the material out there doesn't seem to understand
that designing a program is about modelling a real-world problem and that
it isn't OK to just use a signed integer to store an unsigned value.
 

>
  Absolutely, must have come from an assembler background, where the use
of signed branches and arithmetic, can get you into serious trouble.
The standard C library, of course, tends to use signed variables for
everything, a gross error that has never been fixed...
>

From both ends of the scale actually. :-)

In my early days, I had a _lot_ of assembly language experience.

That was then followed by Wirth language and then Ada experience.

The Wirth languages and then Ada was where my experience to date turned
into a preference for strict data types and the importance of modelling
as accurately as possible the real-world problem you are implementing.

BTW, I still consider classic ARM to be the most elegant assembly language
I have encountered (although those with M68K and similar experience tend
say they are somewhat better).

Simon.

--
Simon Clubley, clubley@remove_me.eisner.decus.org-Earth.UFP
Walking destinations on a map are further away than they appear.