>>>>> "Jonathan" == Jonathan Stone <jonathan@dsg.stanford.edu> writes:

>> Without a polymorphic language, you can't get strong typechecking
>> out of a polymorphic interface.  Fortunately C has an escape
>> (specifically,
Jonathan> .stdarg functions) for polymorphic functions, so we can
Jonathan> prototype them
>> even though we can't get real typechecking.

Jonathan> Seriously: why *bother* prototyping these functions, then?
Jonathan> Is it just an escape to get through a `strong typing' tool?
Jonathan> I really don't see that a prototype that says ``anything
Jonathan> allowed'' buys _anything_.

Well, you get some sort of type checking on the N first args.  I have
got errors like fprintf ("%d", x) caught by using prototpes.

Jonathan> It's also the case that using the ellipsis in a prototype
Jonathan> can result in a less-efficient argument-passing sequence at
Jonathan> run-time, on some architectures.

Does this mean *not* using prototypes at all would be more efficient?
I thought it to mean an implied ellipsis were there.  Isn't it so?

Niklas

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