[TriLUG] a C question -- lightenup

[Michael Alan Dorman]

H Brett Bolen <wingedlizard at nc.rr.com> writes:
> Jeesh, guys.  This is not related to his question.

I disagree---bringing up a style point like that seems perfectly
germane in such a discussion.

Good programming doesn't happen by accident, and attention to details
like the above are part and parcel of creating clear, maintainable
programs.

This is especially true in languages like C or perl which will give
you as much rope as you want for shooting yourself in the foot.  With
power comes responsibility.

Even though I've never programmed in Fortran or PL/1, I keep a copy of
Kernighan and Plaugher's _The Elements of Programming Style_ around
(and K. and Pike's _The Practice of Programming_, too), just to take
it out and thumb through occasionally, and remind myself that no
language is magic: you can write crap in Python, and great stuff in
Basic.

Mike.

P.S. No, I wouldn't have given you your points back.