Comment by perching_aix
1 year ago
so because there are implementation defined behaviors in the standard, language extensions become okay?
1 year ago
so because there are implementation defined behaviors in the standard, language extensions become okay?
Language extensions are a feature, not a bug. They allow C to evolve and C compilers to compete without requiring committee consensus. Good extensions will eventually be picked up by other compilers, and maybe even find their way into the standard.
I love when we discuss C or C++, "Language extensions are a feature, not a bug", but then when discuss other languages that try to do without C, by adding extensios to their language reference, the speech turns into "Language extensions are a weakness, not a feature".
Additionlly "Language extensions are a feature, not a bug" seems only to be valid in the context of C and C++, IF the compilers being discussed are GCC or clang, because God forbid a comercial C or C++ compiler to have language extensions.
Speaking in general about the way these subjects are discussed online, not you in particular.
sure, i get the joke, i just don't like it. it's the same story as browsers. proprietary extensions in the name of progress because technically it's allowed, but also unimplemented standardized features galore, necessitating polyfill libraries and frequent checking of support matrices.
it's just sprawl with popular support.
It is very different. A web browser is a (almost) fully self contained environment. Same with something like JAVA. On the other hand a standard C or C++ compiler+runtime has (by design) very little features. Anything beyond trivial programs has to reach to platform specific features. Even POSIX is often not enough.
1 reply →