[luau] ics412: operating systems

[Ray Strode]

>
>
>I assume you mean for applications?  This seems to be the consensus.  I
>don't know why people still use C for large applications, like GNOME.
>C++ would be a much better choice.
>
C offers more portability and better abi compatibility than C++.  C++ 
compilers
tend to be more buggy than C (which contributes to the portability 
problem).  
C is better for making bindings to other languages (in part because of it's
better abi compatibility).

In my opinion C is a good language for libraries and application frameworks
(e.g. like GNOME), but I think applications themselves should be written in
something more highlevel like Python.

I think also that people tend to love the language they used seriously 
first.  
Miguel de Icaza did kernel programming before starting the GNOME 
project, so
that may help explain why GNOME uses C.

>>C++ from what I've seen (and experienced today) is harder to compile.
>>
>What do you mean?  You're not compiling C++ by hand, are you?  ;-)
>
I think he's saying that the syntax is harder to get right, so it takes
more changes to get the code to compile.

--Ray