Re: A Q for C gurus

Colin Panisset (Colin.Panisset@nospam.nms.otc.com.au)
Mon, 23 Jan 1995 12:37:55 +1100 (EST)

Once upon a time, Jon Guyer was heard to say:

} I may not use C very much but why not grab the output of a dir /ad ?

Jon, very little of this is directed at you personally. Don't take it
that way, okay?

\begin{rant}

Because that's clumsy, slow, inelegant, insecure and just plain
unnecessary.

If I had a dollar for every time I've seen someone use a 'system' call
because they can't work out how to 'stat' a file, I'd be a rich man. C
has a whole host of very useful and powerful functions that you can call
instead of doing a system("/bin/ls"), but do people use them? Noooooooo.

Honestly, it's enough to make me want to rip my own intestines out
through my nose. Or, more preferably, theirs through their nose.

\end{rant}

Enough? I can go on...

-- Colin.