Thread, another side to every story department. (A bit OT)
The following is making its way around C++, object-oriented
circles, and it will no doubt appear all over SI,
but in case you don't see it elsewhere, it's too funny
to miss.
I disclaim any knowledge as to the authenticity of the
following, but it's a scream whether it's true or not.
One of these stories that it almost doesn't matter.
It doesn't sound like Stroustrup to me, but you
never know ....
BTW, if you're not technically inclined, I can tell
you that every technical detail in here is absolutely
correct (about language elements, etc--I don't mean
philosophically--you can make your own mind up about
that!). Stroustrup invented C++, incidentally.
--------------------------------------
This could very well be a put-on, but it's kinda funny anyway...
ÿ On the 1st of January, 1998, Bjarne Stroustrup gave an interview
ÿ to the IEEE's 'Computer' magazine.
ÿ Naturally, the editors thought he would be giving a retrospective
ÿ view of seven years of object-oriented design, using the language
ÿ he created.
ÿ By the end of the interview, the interviewer got more than he had
ÿ bargained for and, subsequently, the editor decided to suppress
ÿ its contents, 'for the good of the industry' but, as with many of
ÿ these things, there was a leak.
ÿ Here is a complete transcript of what was said, unedited, and
ÿ unrehearsed, so it isn't as neat as planned interviews.
ÿ You will find it interesting...
ÿ __________________________________________________________________
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Well, it's been a few years since you changed the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ world of software design.ÿ How does it feel,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ looking back?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Actually, I was thinking about those days, just
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ before you arrived.ÿ Do you remember?ÿ Everyone
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ was writing 'C' and, the trouble was, they were
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ pretty damn good at it.ÿ Universities got pretty
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ good at teaching it, too.ÿ They were turning out
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ competent - I stress the word 'competent' -
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ graduates at a phenomenal rate.ÿ That's what
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ caused the problem.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Problem?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Yes, problem.ÿ Remember when everyone wrote
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ COBOL?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Of course, I did, too.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Well, in the beginning, these guys were like
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ demi-gods.ÿ Their salaries were high, and they
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ were treated like royalty.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Those were the days, eh?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Right.ÿ So what happened?ÿ IBM got sick of it,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ and invested millions in training programmers,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ till they were a dime a dozen.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ That's why I got out.ÿ Salaries dropped within a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ year, to the point where being a journalist
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ actually paid better.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Exactly.ÿ Well, the same happened with 'C'
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ programmers.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I see, but what's the point?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Well, one day, when I was sitting in my office, I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ thought of this little scheme, which would
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ redress the balance a little.ÿ I thought 'I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ wonder what would happen, if there were a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ language so complicated, so difficult to learn,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ that nobody would ever be able to swamp the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ market with programmers?
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Actually, I got some of the ideas from X10, you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ know, X windows.ÿ That was such a bitch of a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ graphics system, that it only just ran on those
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sun 3/60 things.ÿ They had all the ingredients
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ for what I wanted.ÿ A really ridiculously complex
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ syntax, obscure functions, and pseudo-OO
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ structure.ÿ Even now, nobody writes raw X-windows
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ code.ÿ Motif is the only way to go if you want to
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ retain your sanity.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ You're kidding...?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Not a bit of it.ÿ In fact, there was another
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ problem.ÿ Unix was written in 'C', which meant
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ that any 'C' programmer could very easily become
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ a systems programmer.ÿ Remember what a mainframe
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ systems programmer used to earn?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ You bet I do, that's what I used to do.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ OK, so this new language had to divorce itself
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ from Unix, by hiding all the system calls that
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ bound the two together so nicely.ÿ This would
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ enable guys who only knew about DOS to earn a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ decent living too.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I don't believe you said that...
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Well, it's been long enough, now, and I believe
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ most people have figured out for themselves that
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ C++ is a waste of time but, I must say, it's
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ taken them a lot longer than I thought it would.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ So how exactly did you do it?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ It was only supposed to be a joke, I never
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ thought people would take the book seriously.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Anyone with half a brain can see that
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ object-oriented programming is counter-intuitive,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ illogical and inefficient.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ What?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ And as for 're-useable code' --- when did you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ever hear of a company re-using its code?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Well, never, actually, but...
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ There you are then.ÿ Mind you, a few tried, in the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ early days.ÿ There was this Oregon company ---
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Mentor Graphics, I think they were called --- really
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ caught a cold trying to rewrite everything in C++
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ in about '90 or '91.ÿ I felt sorry for them
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ really, but I thought people would learn from
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ their mistakes.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Obviously, they didn't?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Not in the slightest.ÿ Trouble is, most companies
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ hush-up all their major blunders, and explaining
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ a $30 million loss to the shareholders would have
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ been difficult.ÿ Give them their due, though,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ they made it work in the end.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ They did?ÿ Well, there you are then, it proves
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ O-O works.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Well, almost.ÿ The executable was so huge, it
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ took five minutes to load, on an HP workstation,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ with 128MB of RAM.ÿ Then it ran like molasses.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Actually, I thought this would be a major
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ stumbling-block, and I'd get found out within a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ week, but nobody cared.ÿ Sun and HP were only too
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ glad to sell enormously powerful boxes, with huge
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ resources just to run trivial programs.ÿ You know,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ when we had our first C++ compiler, at AT&T, I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ compiled 'Hello World', and couldn't believe the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ size of the executable. 2.1MB
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ What?ÿ Well, compilers have come a long way,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ since then.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ They have?ÿ Try it on the latest version of g++ -
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ you won't get much change out of half a megabyte.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Also, there are several quite recent examples for
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ you, from all over the world.ÿ British Telecom
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ had a major disaster on their hands but, luckily,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ managed to scrap the whole thing and start again.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ They were luckier than Australian Telecom.ÿ Now I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ hear that Siemens is building a dinosaur, and
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ getting more and more worried as the size of the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ hardware gets bigger, to accommodate the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ executables.ÿ Isn't multiple inheritance a joy?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Yes, but C++ is basically a sound language.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ You really believe that, don't you?ÿ Have you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ever sat down and worked on a C++ project?
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Here's what happens:ÿÿÿ First, I've put in enough
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ pitfalls to make sure that only the most trivial
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ projects will work first time.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Take operator overloading.ÿ At the end of the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ project, almost every module has it, usually,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ because guys feel they really should do it, as it
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ was in their training course.ÿ The same operator
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ then means something totally different in every
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ module.ÿ Try pulling that lot together, when you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ have a hundred or so modules.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ And as for data hiding, God, I sometimes can't
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ help laughing when I hear about the problems
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ companies have making their modules talk to each
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ other.ÿ I think the word 'synergistic' was
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ specially invented to twist the knife in a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ project manager's ribs.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I have to say, I'm beginning to be quite appalled
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ at all this.ÿ You say you did it to raise
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ programmers' salaries?ÿ That's obscene.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Not really.ÿ Everyone has a choice.ÿ I didn't
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ expect the thing to get so much out of hand.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Anyway, I basically succeeded.ÿ C++ is dying off
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ now, but programmers still get high salaries -
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ especially those poor devils who have to maintain
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ all this crap.ÿ You do realise, it's impossible
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ to maintain a large C++ software module if you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ didn't actually write it?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ How come?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ You are out of touch, aren't you?ÿ Remember the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ typedef?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Yes, of course.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Remember how long it took to grope through the
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ header files only to find that 'RoofRaised' was a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ double precision number?ÿ Well, imagine how long
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ it takes to find all the implicit typedefs in all
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ the Classes in a major project.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ So how do you reckon you've succeeded?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ The universities haven't been teaching 'C' for
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ such a long time, there's now a shortage of
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ decent 'C' programmers.ÿ Especially those who
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ know anything about Unix systems programming.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ How many guys would know what to do with
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 'malloc', when they've used 'new' all these years
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ - and never bothered to check the return code.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ In fact, most C++ programmers throw away their
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ return codes.ÿ Whatever happened to good ol'
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ '-1'?ÿ At least you knew you had an error,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ without bogging the thing down in all that
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ 'throw' 'catch' 'try' stuff.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ But, surely, inheritance does save a lot of time?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Does it?ÿ Have you ever noticed the difference
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ between a 'C' project plan, and a C++ project
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ plan?ÿ The planning stage for a C++ project is
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ three times as long.ÿ Precisely to make sure that
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ everything which should be inherited is, and what
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ shouldn't isn't.ÿ Then, they still get it wrong.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Whoever heard of memory leaks in a 'C' program?
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Now finding them is a major industry.ÿ Most
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ companies give up, and send the product out,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ knowing it leaks like a sieve, simply to avoid
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ the expense of tracking them all down.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ There are tools....
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Most of which were written in C++.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ If we publish this, you'll probably get lynched,
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ you do realise that?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ I doubt it.ÿ As I said, C++ is way past its peak
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ now, and no company in its right mind would start
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ a C++ project without a pilot trial.ÿ That should
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ convince them that it's the road to disaster.ÿ If
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ not, they deserve all they get.ÿ You know, I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ tried to convince Dennis Ritchie to rewrite Unix
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ in C++.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Oh my God.ÿ What did he say?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Well, luckily, he has a good sense of humor.ÿ I
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ think both he and Brian figured out what I was
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ doing, in the early days, but never let on.ÿ He
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ said he'd help me write a C++ version of DOS, if
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ I was interested.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Were you?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Actually, I did write DOS in C++, I'll give you a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ demo when we're through.ÿ I have it running on a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Sparc 20 in the computer room.ÿ Goes like a
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ rocket on 4 CPU's, and only takes up 70 megs of
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ disk.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ What's it like on a PC?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Now you're kidding.ÿ Haven't you ever seen
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Windows '95?ÿ I think of that as my biggest
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ success.ÿ Nearly blew the game before I was
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ ready, though.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ You know, that idea of a Unix++ has really got me
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ thinking.ÿ Somewhere out there, there's a guy
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ going to try it.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Not after they read this interview.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I'm sorry, but I don't see us being able to
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ publish any of this.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ But it's the story of the century.ÿ I only want
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ to be remembered by my fellow programmers, for
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ what I've done for them.ÿ You know how much a C++
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ guy can get these days?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Last I heard, a really top guy is worth $70 - $80
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ an hour.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ See?ÿ And I bet he earns it.ÿ Keeping track of
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ all the gotchas I put into C++ is no easy job.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ And, as I said before, every C++ programmer feels
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ bound by some mystic promise to use every damn
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ element of the language on every project.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Actually, that really annoys me sometimes, even
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ though it serves my original purpose.ÿ I almost
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ like the language after all this time.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ You mean you didn't before?
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Hated it.ÿ It even looks clumsy, don't you agree?
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ But when the book royalties started to come in...
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ well, you get the picture.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Just a minute.ÿ What about references?ÿ You must
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ admit, you improved on 'C' pointers.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Hmm.ÿ I've always wondered about that.
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ Originally, I thought I had.ÿ Then, one day I was
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ discussing this with a guy who'd written C++ from
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ the beginning.ÿ He said he could never remember
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ whether his variables were referenced or
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ dereferenced, so he always used pointers.ÿ He said
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ the little asterisk always reminded him.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ Well, at this point, I usually say 'thank you
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ very much' but it hardly seems adequate.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Promise me you'll publish this.ÿ My conscience is
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ getting the better of me these days.
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I'll let you know, but I think I know what my
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ editor will say.
ÿ Stroustrup:ÿÿÿ Who'd believe it anyway?ÿ Although, can you send
ÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿÿ me a copy of that tape?
ÿ Interviewer:ÿÿ I can do that.
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