Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : BORL: Time to BUY! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Kashish King who wrote (6892)	10/25/1997 2:21:00 AM
From: David R	Respond to of 10836

RE: pointers are easy-to-use, flexible and problem free in the hands of even a mildly competent C++ programmer You, on the other hand, find them very difficult to work with, which explains your zeal for Java! <g>

To: Kashish King who wrote (6892)	10/25/1997 11:58:00 AM
From: i-node	Respond to of 10836

That, and rank-novice code butchery, is why classes that ought to be reference counted are not. Hardly a significant consideration for many of us. AFA efficiency, why do you continue to hang on to the bogus notion that pointers are more efficient that references? There are inherent efficiencies to be realized by having the ability to use, for example, pointers to functions, arrays of pointers to objects, and numerous other important data structures. While a simple multiply-linked list can be created without pointers, you can certainly do it much more efficiency when pointers are available. I agree that for purposes of passing objects there are efficient alternatives, but this represents only a fraction of the usefulness of pointers. Rod, the choice of a language with pointers or not is largely dependent upon the kind of application you are writing. There are many commercial systems applications that can just as easily be written without pointers, and with careful design, that can be implemented without adverse effect on development or execution efficiency. OTOH, there are also numerous applications where pointers enhance both the development time and execution speed (BTW -- Borland acknowledges this fact by implication in Object Pascal).