From: kagel AT quasar DOT bloomberg DOT com Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 09:54:33 -0400 Message-Id: <9606031354.AA01621@quasar.bloomberg.com > To: eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il Cc: rkwcvdz AT rivier1 DOT puk DOT ac DOT za, djgpp AT delorie DOT com In-Reply-To: (message from Eli Zaretskii on Mon, 3 Jun 1996 07:50:57 +0200 (IST)) Subject: Re: Moving from Pascal to Djgpp Reply-To: kagel AT dg1 DOT bloomberg DOT com Date: Mon, 3 Jun 1996 07:50:57 +0200 (IST) From: Eli Zaretskii On Thu, 30 May 1996 kagel AT quasar DOT bloomberg DOT com wrote: > BTW: Many compilers do not support preprocessor directives that do not begin in > column 1. GCC, and therefore DJGPP, does, as does Borland, but this may cause > potability problems. I don't see any portability problem here, since ANSI C explicitly permits any amount of whitespace (and even comments) to surround the `#' character in preprocessor directives. Hardly anyone should consider pre-ANSI compilers nowadays. The problem, as usual, is not with what should be but with what is. You do not always have a choice of compilers. There are supposedly ANSI compilers that do not support newer preprocessor constructs like whitespace around '#' and string pasting, etc. The DEC compilers come immediately to mind! It is usually politic (small 'p') to write to the lowest common denominator when avoiding a feature cost you nothing. Anyway it was just an aside and suggestion. Obviously, if your code cannot run on anything other than DOS where you have at least four excellent compilers available there is no problem. On the other hand if you, or anyone else reading our thread, need to write portable programs this is one of those "Gee I didn't know that" gotcha's that one might want to know about! And so I mentioned it... -- Art S. Kagel, kagel AT quasar DOT bloomberg DOT com A proverb is no proverb to you 'till life has illustrated it. -- John Keats