Newsgroups: alt.lang.design,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.lisp
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Subject: Re: Reference Counting (was Re: Searching Method for Incremental Garbage Collection)
References: <D03Iwn.Jn5@research.att.com> <3boujh$o0c@news.parc.xerox.com> <DAVIS.94Dec15173940@passy.ilog.fr>
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In article <DAVIS.94Dec15173940@passy.ilog.fr>
           davis@ilog.fr "Harley Davis" writes:

> This whole discussion of when you need and don't need a GC is
> misplaced, in my opinion.  We don't really need spreadsheets either,
> but they sure are handy.  The way I see it, whenever I can get a
> computer to do some menial, boring, repetitive task for me, I take
> advantage of it.  A GC is a time-saving device, and I need all the
> time I can get to make my applications fully functional, bug-free,
> delivered on-time, and fast.  This, much more than need, is the reason
> why I want a GC around.

I agree with you about that, but I phrase it a little differently.
I simply say that I use a GC (or a language system that includes a
GC) because I can. Never mind why. The first and most important
thing to me is _that I can_ use it. There are so many other neat
tools that I can't use, but this one is really easy to get hold of
and exploit.

To me, that means the same thing. Sadly, explaining this kind of
thing is also a repetitve task, so I've streamlined it. ;-)

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