Fixing C's Biggest Mistake

[Timon Gehr]

On 12/31/22 15:31, Timon Gehr wrote:
> On 12/31/22 07:34, Walter Bright wrote:
>> On 12/30/2022 1:07 PM, Timon Gehr wrote:
>>>> In your description of pattern matching checks in this thread, the 
>>>> check was at runtime.
>>>> ...
>>>
>>> No, the check was at compile time.
>>
>> The pattern matching is done at run time.
> 
> I don't get the relevance of this.

By the way, you were under-quoting. This is the relevant context:

On 12/31/22 07:34, Walter Bright wrote:
> On 12/29/2022 7:37 PM, Timon Gehr wrote:
>> I am not saying software can't be allowed to fail, just that it should fail compilation, not at runtime.
> 
> In your description of pattern matching checks in this thread, the check was at runtime.
> ... 

I.e., we were talking about failure, then you made an unrelated and 
obvious, i.e., spurious, remark about pattern matching happening at 
runtime instead of addressing the actual point. Now you seem to be 
doubling down on this.

I was talking about _failure_. You then started talking about pattern 
matching. I don't want to contest that pattern matching happens at 
runtime. Not at all. But it's just not the check we had been talking 
about...