> You never know whether a cast would be needed by a paranoid compiler,
> but is automatic type conversion a good thing by itself??
>
> Modula2 did not have it (AFAIK), and this made some strange
> constructions necessary.
> But I prefer having to think when writing the code to having to think
> when I debug it.
Amen to that. About 10 years ago, I developed the software and hardware
for a an embedded control system to manage tape transport control and
signal routing for 32 VCRs and two large AV switchers. The entire thing
was written in Turbo Modula-2 (save a few assembler hooks into the
hardware) and ran on a Hitachi HD64180 single-board computer.
I can still read that code to this day. In contrast, I'm constantly
amazed at how much time it can take to "tune in" to C code written 6
months ago. Granted, C can be written literately as well as the next
language, but something about sources written in Algol-derived languages
makes the logic leap to my brain <g>.
Steve