Re: Low-level vs. High-level programming (was My First Computer)

["Randy McLaughlin" <randy@nospam.com>]

"Paul Schlyter" <pausch@saaf.se> wrote in message
news:bdooqh$1mfc$1@merope.saaf.se...
<snip>
>
> Traditionally, C compilers were implemented such that asm source text
> was an intermediate step in the compilation process.  However, that
> step is nowadays often skipped, and compilers usually output binary
> object code directly.

You are partially right.  Most C compilers hide the fact that they
automatically call an assembler and delete the "intermediate" program.
Twenty years ago after we would get our programs running we would take the
intermediate file (asm source) and optimize by hand (I haven't done that in
almost twenty years).

Of course it does not change the fact that only the original text file (C
source) is a C program, any other files are refered to as object programs.
While they are no longer C programs that does not affect "ownership", they
are still the programmers program.
>
> > that may be linked into another binary file.  All of these
> > files are programs (yes, even the text files).
>
> -- 
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