Re: [dev] Web development in C (or, C'ing clearly through the webs of bias)

From: Greg Reagle <greg.reagle_AT_umbc.edu>
Date: Sat, 02 Feb 2019 07:46:37 -0500

On Sat, Feb 2, 2019, at 05:21, Ciprian Dorin Craciun wrote:
> C is not "suckless" based on the above ides:
> * C is not minimal; (I understand "why" it is not minimal, but this
> is besides the point;)
> * C is not as usable as other languages; (how many times have we as
> developers rewritten linked-lists? how would one describe using a
> hash-map library in C?)
> * C code is not "clear"; (just having `void *` as structure members
> and callback arguments, using `int` as "descriptors", etc.;)
> * C code is complex; (try concatenating a few strings together;)

I've been on this list a few years too. I completely agree with these criticisms of C.

On the other hand, higher level languages than C that overcome these particular problems have other problems, so I don't know of a great alternative. Shell scripting with rc is a pretty good higher level language, for its special purpose, but of course its scope is limited.
Received on Sat Feb 02 2019 - 13:46:37 CET