Right, Not K&R

Post #57,488 by hnick 10/18/02 8:13:04 AM Reply	Right, Not K&R I didn't start using C until 1984 or so, and every compiler I saw was mostly K&R compliant. ISO came later. I was told that a lot of the code I was looking at was written like it was because of the 80 line limitation on the system it came from. I never saw the original system, and the story came to me as probably third hand word-of-mouth. I suppose you can say that if it's not K&R, it's not a C compiler. I suppose that the story could also be bullshit, although I did not pass it on with such knowledge. A lot of the information I possess, I have through informal sources, including this forum. I recalled the story and thought that it pertained to the thread. Sorry about that.. Hugh
Post #57,489 by CRConrad 10/18/02 8:30:21 AM Reply	Don't be. Sorry, I mean.
Post #57,548 by deSitter 10/18/02 12:37:33 PM Reply	Re: Right, Not K&R No, it's very interesting! Even as late as the late 70s, college computing was done on a Forbin Project style 'frame - ours was a Cyber, one of the fastest computers then made. The hapless student/researcher would code up his program on Hollerith cards and present the deck at the I/O window - later a public card reader was available and you could submit your own deck, eat some horrid dry cookies or chips with your 10th Dr. Pepper of the day, and wait for the I/O window troll to deliver your output. General availability of time-share terminals only came in early 80s IIRC. PROFS for VM/CMS (Professional Office System or some such), the GroupWise of its day, had "virtual card readers" and "virtual punch files". GASP! -drl
Post #58,034 by wharris2 10/21/02 12:00:00 PM Reply	Actually, might it have been a "standard" to fit terminals? When I first went to work (in the mid-80's) programming C, it was a "standard" that the code would match a certain format - and, except for long strings (back in those days C compilers didn't append adjacent strings together), it was recommended that we use 80-character lines (at worst) and preferably something like 72 columns, for readability on the Wyse75 terminals we had at the time and, I suppose, the ability to more easily print stuff out on the 80-column line printers we had at the time. If I remember correctly, you could put those Wyse's into 132-column mode, but you'd probably go blind if you did so. And if you went over 80 columns on any particular terminal, you'd have to monkey with termcap/terminal settings, and it seems to me it always seemed to take a lot more effort than it was ever worth. The lawyers would mostly rather be what they are than get out of the way even if the cost was Hammerfall. - Jerry Pournelle

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