Newest Questions
877 questions
2
votes
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540
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Semantics on `with` keyword in C# for (heap-based) records
I have a question about a C# language design. Let's have a following code:
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-5
votes
2
answers
320
views
How can an assembler provide suggestions for misspelt named registers with Levenshtein distance, as it cannot know token is supposed to be a register?
Here is an example program in PicoBlaze assembly language illustrating and explaining the problem:
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9
votes
4
answers
3k
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Is it plausible to let modulo-by-zero have a well-defined output value, provided that my language is C-like?
By mathematical definition, for every nonnegative integer n and every positive integer d, it holds that the modulo ...
- 1,101
0
votes
1
answer
337
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Why don't assemblers, even those that support arithmetic expressions in compile-time constants, tend to support the ternary conditional `?:` operator?
So, as per my previous question, I added the support for the ternary conditional operator ?: into my PicoBlaze assembler written in JavaScript for compile-time ...
- 1,945
1
vote
1
answer
156
views
In the old Angular, why did `[ngSwitch]` go into square brackets, but `*ngSwitchCase` was preceded by `*`? Wouldn't `*ngSwitch` make more sense?
In the old versions of Angular (before the @if, @for, and @switch), why did ...
- 1,945
10
votes
1
answer
331
views
What's the current state of the art for inferring/checking integer range types?
I'm putting together a small language, and I'd like its type system to include bounded integer types, where for any expression e and integer literals $l,h$, the ...
7
votes
1
answer
406
views
What problems do applicative functors solve, as an abstraction relative to monads and arrows?
TL;DR
This site is of course particularly interested in the language designer's and implementor's perspective so, following What is an arrow and what powers would it give as a first class concept in a ...
- 173
2
votes
0
answers
196
views
Should comparison operators check whether their arguments are the same object?
I'll focus on the == operator in C++. Its usual declaration signature for overloading is:
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- 1,101
2
votes
1
answer
545
views
Why weren't the WebAssembly directives `load` and `store` made more future-proof by requiring an additional argument specifying which linear memory?
So, WebAssembly is planning to add the support for multiple linear memories (something like x86 sections). And some WebAssembly directives (such as data) are made ...
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3
votes
1
answer
204
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How is the `wasm2c` tool from the WebAssembly Binary Toolkit capable of converting WebAssembly code doing unaligned access into C?
My AEC-to-WebAssembly compiler often outputs WebAssembly code doing unaligned access, which is valid in WebAssembly (it's just not guaranteed to be as fast as aligned access, and, on ARM, it usually ...
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6
votes
0
answers
249
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In ARM assembly, why is the bitwise OR operation called "ORR" (with double 'r'), rather than simply "OR"?
So, I've been studying the basics of the ARM assembly (and daydreaming about making a compiler which outputs it) and I can't help but notice that the mnemonic doing the bitwise OR operation in ARM ...
- 1,945
0
votes
1
answer
384
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Are there any programming languages that operate solely via side-effects?
Out of curiosity I checked how Google AI would respond to a similar question. The bot seemed clever enough to understand the question, but responded that functions in this case would have no return ...
1
vote
2
answers
318
views
Decimal point as a binary operation [closed]
I wonder if anyone has tried implementing the decimal point as a binary operation a.b = $f(a, b) = a+b/10^{1+floor(log_{10} b)}$
That would simplify the PL design, and add new possibilities. For ...
77
votes
2
answers
31k
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How do modern compilers choose which variables to put in registers?
C has the register keyword, originally designed as a hint to the compiler that a variable should be placed in a register rather than on the stack. However this is ...
- 10.3k
6
votes
6
answers
1k
views
Language constructs to reduce inadvertent interface implementation in purely structural type systems?
In a structural type system there may be cases where an inappropriate object is passed to a function because it implements the interface by chance.
For example (in some hypothetical structurally typed ...
- 204
17
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Why did C99 have to add the underscored keywords for _Bool _Complex _Imaginary but not for inline or restrict?
C99 introduced the following keywords: _Bool _Complex _Imaginary ...
- 10.3k
1
vote
2
answers
284
views
How does the GNU Assembler deal with the directives for changing the syntax from AT&T to Intel or vice versa if those directives are in if-branching?
GNU Assembler, when targetting x86, has directives .att_syntax and .intel_syntax for switching between Intel Syntax and AT&T ...
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13
votes
2
answers
806
views
What optimizations are possible with unsequenced operators?
In C, most binary operators do not specify which operand will be evaluated first:
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- 10.3k
6
votes
1
answer
1k
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Why does the `target` attribute in HTML require a string starting with an underscore, such as `"_blank"`? Why not simply `"blank"`?
To specify in HTML that an <a> link needs to opened in a new tab or a new window, you use the following syntax:
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4
votes
1
answer
310
views
Are there OO languages which implement objects as persistent data-structures?
I am an object-oriented developer professionally, but I have researched functional programming and (believe that) I understand the key principles which to varying degrees are applied in FP languages.
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- 204
6
votes
4
answers
535
views
Do any notable programming languages other than Fortran mark line continuation at the beginning of the following line?
In the first high-level language (FORTRAN), lines of text would by default be treated as individual statements, except that a card which contained something other than an asterisk or C in column 1 and ...
- 2,252
1
vote
1
answer
303
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C specification's "sequenced before" and "pair-wise relation"
Paragraph 5.2.2.4 of ISO 9899:2024 says
Sequenced before is an asymmetric, transitive, pair-wise relation between evaluations executed by a single thread...
What does the pair-wise relation mean? Is ...
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-1
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1
answer
284
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Strongest criticisms of object-oriented languages? [closed]
Linus Torvalds has famously attacked the object-oriented language C++, but he didn't offer many specifics about why, besides saying C++ uses "inefficient abstracted programming models". What ...
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1
vote
3
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283
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What to do with productions that have multiple LHS?
In the C language, a function call has a parameter list of assignment-expressions defined as:
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- 353
3
votes
1
answer
1k
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Strings and arrays in Project Valhalla
My understanding of Project Valhalla's impact on arrays and Strings (please let me know if this is off):
arrays will still be reference objects but an array of ...
- 133
3
votes
1
answer
193
views
Alternatives to ANTLR 3 for LL(1) Grammar verification
I'm developing an expression language using a LL(1) recursive descent parser. Technically it's actually LL(2) since I need an extra lookahead in one place. I'm using ANTLR 3 (ANTLRWorks) to verify ...
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26
votes
3
answers
7k
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Why do many programming languages use the symbol of two vertical parallel lines `||` to mean "or"?
Why do many programming languages use the symbol of two vertical parallel lines || to mean "or"? Is it because two switches connected in parallel form a ...
- 1,945
0
votes
3
answers
209
views
Distinguish identifier reference and definition
I have the following prototype grammar that I intend to use to test a home-made LR(1) parser.
During the process of writing it, I realize that there's a potential ambiguity with regard to the function ...
- 353
-1
votes
2
answers
414
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If in computer science, compare-and-swap is known as "compare-and-swap," why are the C/C++ functions named atomic_compare_exchange_*?
In computer science, compare-and-swap is known as, well, "compare-and-swap" and often abbreviated as "CAS."
Why are the functions in the standard C library and C++ library named <...
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3
votes
2
answers
270
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Alternatives for concept of sub-modules
I imagine that I would like to have some form of sub-module concept in my language. Where the exposed types and functions of the sub-module is accessible for the parent module, but not for other ...
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