Date: Thu, 08 Apr 1999 13:47:56 -0500
From: Eric Rudd <rudd AT cyberoptics DOT com>
Subject: Re: DJGPP and ANSI C
To: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com
Message-id: <370CF9DC.F1ADDDDE@cyberoptics.com>
Organization: CyberOptics
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Reply-To: djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com

Laurynas Biveinis wrote:

> Hello,
> I want to ask - which ANSI C version you are seeking to be compatible
> with?  I am reading  ANSI C draft (1997-11-21), and now I see that

The current standard is ANSI/ISO 9899-1990.  There are plans currently
underway for a new C standard (informally dubbed C9x), but it has not
yet issued -- there is still plenty of dispute over its new features.
Check out the newsgroup comp.std.c if you are interested in following
the discussion.  There are also a number of defect reports that have
resulted in emendations of the standard.  I don't know where to find
those, but the someone on comp.std.c would surely know.

If anyone wishes to obtain a copy of ANSI/ISO 9899-1990, the cheapest
way to do that is to purchase the book "The Annotated ANSI C Standard,"
annotated by Herbert Schildt (Osborne, 1993).  Schildt's annotation has
come under heavy criticism, but the standard itself is quoted verbatim
(except for a missing page in early editions).  The current draft of C9x
can be obtained on the Web at http://anubis.dkuug.dk/JTC1/SC22/WG14 .
(By the way, there has been significant revision of the C9x draft since
1997-11-21.)

My opinion on incorporating new features is that if we have some
extension we want in DJGPP, we should make it conform to the current
draft of C9x (if possible), but we should not feel compelled to
incorporate features for the sake of conformity with C9x, since the
standard has not yet issued, and may change further before it does.

-Eric Rudd
rudd AT cyberoptics DOT com