Don't confuse the strategies :-) Small liberal arts school has a strategy of broad based understanding of theory and the 'art', with graduate school providing the nuts and bolts specialization, large engineering school (USC) has the strategy of maximally skilled in execution of the art with enough theory to be effective. USC will assume that you will go to work right after you get your 4 year degree, Lewis and Clark…
Learn C, Then Learn Computer Science
131–134 of 134 posts
Re: Learn C, Then Learn Computer Science
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
malloc() and free() (not to mention realloc() and calloc()) are part of the Standard C Library, and must be provided for a C compiler to be certified as ANSI compliant. Granted, you don't have to use any Standard C Library functions, but a C compiler must have them (or else, it can't claim ANSI compliance).
I knew they were part of the standard library and the specification -- I mean, even the stdio stuff is, right? -- I had no idea the compiler had any involvement in that, though. I know gcc provides them for you if you don't specify the right includes, but that's gcc, like. I think I'm going to go on considering them not technically part of C itself, until I have more information. Thanks.
(I'm not sure if you'll see this or not, but it's worth a shot)
Like I said, before a compiler can be certified ANSI C, it must provide the Standard C Library (for whatever platform the compiler is for). As a programmer, you don't have to use the supplied functions, but they are there, and they do comprise a part of the C Standard. And because the functions are defined, the compiler writer can do some pretty neat things.
For instance, include string.h, and that informs the compiler you want to use the string and memory functions defined by the C Standard. The compiler can then generate code directly for, say, memcpy() instead of generating a call to said function (it can inline it, even though C89 made no standard method of inlining a function). Or the function sin() if you include math.h (some CPUs support a single instruction for the sin function). Don't include string.h, and well ... what happens is up to the compiler. Most just give a warning about an undefined function, assume it's defined as "int unknownfunction()" and leave it up to the link phase to either find it or not.
Yes, there is a distinction between the C language, and the C library, but both must be provided if a C compiler wants to conform to the C Standard.
Re: Learn C, Then Learn Computer Science
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
Python is growing in importance in scientific computing, displacing languages like R, MATLAB, and Fortran (yes, Fortran). There's a pretty good chance it will still be in wide use in science in 10-15 years. Ruby is harder to predict. It seems like a lot of the web developers who would have used Rails a few years ago are now opting for server-side javascript, based in node.js.
Thank you. But do you mean Julia to replace R, Matlab and Fortran?
I'll chime in and agree that Python is challenging R, Matlab, and Fortran thanks to some powerful third-party libraries. There is a LOT you can do with NumPy/SciPy[1], and Matplotlib[2].
Re: Learn C, Then Learn Computer Science
#134Earlier quoted context omitted.
I knew they were part of the standard library and the specification -- I mean, even the stdio stuff is, right? -- I had no idea the compiler had any involvement in that, though. I know gcc provides them for you if you don't specify the right includes, but that's gcc, like. I think I'm going to go on considering them not technically part of C itself, until I have more information. Thanks.
(I'm not sure if you'll see this or not, but it's worth a shot) Like I said, before a compiler can be certified ANSI C, it must provide the Standard C Library (for whatever platform the compiler is for). As a programmer, you don't have to use the supplied functions, but they are there, and they do comprise a part of the C Standard. And because the functions are defined, the compiler writer can do some pretty neat thi…
That is quite informative, and also quite bizarre (for C). TIL.