Hi John! :-)

[cross-platform libraries]
 JHG> Yes, and when you use them, your code is not 100% ANSI STD C LIBRARY 
 JHG> Only.
 JHG> As such, you can not claim your code is portable to the point that 
 JHG> it will compile on any AMIGA, C64, C128, CP/M, Embedded System, etc. 
Correct, though the approach can fly if you only plan to support a limited
number of environments.

[...]
 JHG> They claim they want to write ANSI C to be cross-platform 
 JHG> compatible. If that's the case, then stick to ANSI-C and do without 
 JHG> graphics, because your not going to find a ANSI-C Graphics library
 JHG> for an embedded system!
On embedded systems, you can't expect to have anything you might be used to
from a normal computer -- and for the peripherials you *do* have, you often
have to use non-standard headers and functions to get at them.

 JHG> Granted, restricting code to being that portable is often pointless, 
 JHG> unless your writing a utility for multiple operating systems,
Even then, you often need to have some OS-specific code hidden behind a
glue layer. Plain C99 doesn't offer that much.

 JHG> however, it none the less is the supposedly goal of newbie programmers 
 JHG> who start off in C because of its compatibility without fully 
 JHG> understanding what that means to their program.....
They'll learn, in time. Even sticking to ANSI C99 offers no guarantee of
writing portable code. You can still get bitten by differences between 32
bit and 64 bit machines, or the endianness of the machine.

I think we are actually in agreement, but I have learned to ignore most of
the newbie programmer talk. ;)

Ciao
Pascal

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