This caught my attention. Did early C really have min and max? Were they used for
anything? In those days I was a BCPL user, which IIRC, did not have such things.
-Larry
Begin forwarded message:
From: Leo Broukhis <leob(a)mailcom.com>
Subject: [Simh] An abandoned piece of K&R C
Date: 2017, November 3 at 1:14:42 AM EDT
To: "simh(a)trailing-edge.com" <simh(a)trailing-edge.com>
https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/q/4965/4025
<https://retrocomputing.stackexchange.com/q/4965/4025>
In the UNIX V7 version of the C language, there were the /\ (min) and the \/ (max)
operators. In the source of the scanner part of the compiler,
case BSLASH:
if (subseq('/', 0, 1))
return(MAX);
goto unkn;
case DIVIDE:
if (subseq('\\', 0, 1))
return(MIN);
...
However, attempting to use them reveals that the corresponding part in the code generator
is missing. Trying to compile
foo(a, b) { return a \/ b; }
results in
1: No code table for op: \/
The scanner piece survived in the copies of the compiler for various systems for several
years. I tried to look for copies of the code generator table which would contain an
implementation, but failed. Has anyone ever seen a working MIN/MAX operator in K&R C?
Thanks,Leo
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