Re: specifications (was Re: Languages: The Bigger the Uglier)

> [I'd be pretty pessimistic about the possibility of getting such a reference
> implementation even as well debugged as your typical standards document. -John]


Uh... Don't 'de facto' standards already use an 'implementation' for
the standard? I.e., 'your fortran has to be compatible with
DEC/Cray/IBM...'. No one in their right mind uses the published
documentation of these de facto standards for more than scratch paper --
they go straight for the actual implementation, since that's what the
customers care about.


The DEC/Cray/IBM's of the world then find that even _they_ can't change
the behavior of their compiler by 'fixing bugs' without risking the rage
of their customers. :-)
--
www/ftp directory:
ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/hb/hbaker/home.html
--

Return to the comp.compilers page.
Search the comp.compilers archives again.