[gclist] Regions and collection.

[Charles Fiterman]

First I hope that when a topic changes the title will change so people can 
do searches more easily.

Languages get their power more from what they cannot do than from what they 
can do. Functional languages get their power from the absence of side 
effects which allows open composition. Java's power comes from type safety 
which prevents writing viruses. You can click on a web site, download a 
Java program and know its not a virus.

Regions break type safety the same way free does. You can have a pointer to 
a freed object, wait for something you want to see the insides of to occupy 
that space and take over.

Regions may be reasonable for the inside of gcc etc. but like free they 
can't be a general solution. gcc is an old program and was hacked on by 
many people, it reached the point where it needed collection and type 
safety to work. Regions would recreate the original problem.

My guess is gcc simply needs a rewrite.


Charles Fiterman
403 Burton Ave
Highland Park, IL 60053
847-266-0076

The gods confound the man who first found out how to distinguish hours.
Confound him too, who in this place set up a sundial,
to cut and hack my days so wretchedly into small portions!

Titus Maccius Plautus 254-184 B.C.