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From: Tim Pierce <twpierce+usenet@mail.bsd.uchicago.edu>
Subject: Re: Theory #51 (superior(?) programming languages)
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Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 20:08:01 GMT
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In article <32e6a3d8.4322028@news-win.rinet.ru>,
Oleg Moroz <moroz@inist.ru> wrote:

>On 22 Jan 1997 16:00:07 +0000, Erik Naggum <erik@naggum.no> wrote:
>
>>C is _designed_ to be "fast but unreliable".  _that_ is the problem.
>
>The fact is that for most everyday programming needs many (if not all)
>programmers need just that - fast and unreliable integer arithmetic, not an
>overspecified Common Lisp or Ada numerics or Scheme's number tower.

I disagree completely.  `Most everyday programming' does not
require the absolute flat-out speed that you can get from a
minimalist language like C.  Obviously *some* of it does --
real-time systems, airflow simulations, and so on -- but are these
good examples of `most everyday programming'?  I don't think so.
In everyday programming, a fast program is often useless if it
doesn't work, and it's wise to trade a bit of your performance in
exchange for a more robust model.

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