Bad/broken compilers - how prevalent?

Doug Gwyn gwyn at smoke.brl.mil
Tue Feb 26 03:46:15 AEST 1991


In article <3667 at ssc-bee.ssc-vax.UUCP> carroll at ssc-vax.UUCP (Jeff Carroll) writes:
>	Are most C compilers broken in significant ways?

Most C compilers that I've encountered work fairly well, having only
a few occasional bugs that can usually be avoided once they are known.

>	Why do most FORTRAN compilers seem to be basically
>functional, when C compilers on the same machines are hosed?

I haven't noticed much difference in quality between Fortran and C
compilers.  I've seen similar bugs in most of them.

>	What could I do (or implore my employer to do) to improve my
>luck?

You could specify standard conformance as an essential constraint for
procurement of C implementations, and hold the vendors to it.



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