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Re: C++ and useful error messages
- To: pmscott <pmscott at signal dot dera dot gov dot uk>
- Subject: Re: C++ and useful error messages
- From: Florian Weimer <Florian dot Weimer at RUS dot Uni-Stuttgart dot DE>
- Date: 22 Dec 2000 18:40:11 +0100
- Cc: "gcc at gcc dot gnu dot org" <gcc at gcc dot gnu dot org>, "libstdc++ at gcc dot gnu dot org" <libstdc++ at gcc dot gnu dot org>
- References: <01C06B46.525E7A20.pmscott@signal.dera.gov.uk><20001221140336.A23888@disaster.jaj.com>
Phil Edwards <pedwards@disaster.jaj.com> writes:
> > emsg2.C:2: `vector' undeclared (first use this function)
> As a student, "first use this function" caused me no end of confusion.
>
> The word 'use' is meant as a noun, pronounced in English with an 's' as in
> "this is the first usage in this function of this type/variable/whatever".
>
> I and fellow classmates were reading "use" as a verb, pronounced in English
> with a 'z' sound, as in "first employ [make use of] this function," and
> we were always muttering, "first use /what/ function?"
Your interpretation of this error message is basically correct. In
K&R C, there's no need for prototypes, but if you want to take the
address of a function, you have call it first in order to make it
known to the compiler.
Of course, this error message doesn't make sense for the C++ frontend,
but no one seemed to be bothered enough to fix it.
--
Florian Weimer Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE
University of Stuttgart http://cert.uni-stuttgart.de/
RUS-CERT +49-711-685-5973/fax +49-711-685-5898