* * * * *
                                        
                           Stupid GCC Compiler Tricks
                                        
Years ago I implemented my own language, and in the process of writing that,
I seriously abused the C pre-processor to give me a form of template-based
programming (templates are now part of the C++ standard), and while using the
template wasn't that bad:

> void _MKFUNCTION(T_PREFIX,_matrix)(void)
> {
>   char *s;
>   
>   s = get_token(fpin,whitespace);
>   string_push(s);
>   _MKFUNCTION(T_PREFIX,_matrixq)();
> }
> 

But you had to be very careful how you included the templates stuff, or it
would most definitely blow up in your face.

But this—implementing a “read-evaluate-print-loop” in C, for C [1]—is sheer
genius. Or sheer insanity. I'm not sure which.

[1] http://tlrobinson.net/blog/?p=31

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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