Women in Technology

Article:		What I Hate About Your Programming Language
Subject:		C, C++, Java, maybe others - zeroth element arrays
Date:		2003-05-14 10:54:13
From:		anonymous2
Response to: C, C++, Java, maybe others - zeroth element arrays
why arrays indexed from zero? cos everybody is used to them. maybe if we all started indexing arrays from 1 back in the day it'd seem sensible, but it has become convention. i'd find it weird if i moved to a new language and found the arrays indexed from 1, it'd spongle all my for-loop logic & annoy me every time i forgot it.

Showing messages 1 through 2 of 2.

• C, C++, Java, maybe others - zeroth element arrays
  2003-05-14 14:39:09  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  Naah, you don't really want me to reply with a list of languages that do suport arrays starting 'at one' do you:)
  Don't be worried if you ever encounter one though, those languages do not support for-loop logic either.
  You'll indeed need an all new logic:
  the first is in position one,
  the second is in position two,
  ...
  the Nth is in position N.
  
  Hey, I really do like C, but not really for business processing.

• There's a zeroth element?
  2003-05-14 13:08:17  anonymous2 [View]
  
  
  Maybe I'm backwards, but I rarely use the zeroth element. I do know that C and its pointer arithmetic is why there is a zeroth element. But unless the problem absolutely requires it, I just ignore it like a bit of grissle on my steak.