From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Florian Weimer To: Phil Edwards Cc: gcc@gcc.gnu.org Subject: Re: Really crummy error messages Date: Sun, 07 Oct 2001 23:01:00 -0000 Message-id: <87r8selkgy.fsf@deneb.enyo.de> References: <20011007173547.A15654@disaster.jaj.com> X-SW-Source: 2001-10/msg00529.html Phil Edwards writes: > For "first use this function" to be a correct English sentence [fragment], > there is only one possible parse, and it's not what is intended. "First use > this function" is an /imperative/ with "use" as a verb (pronounced with a 'z' > sound), and always leaves new users wondering, "first use /which/ function?" I think this error message is dating back to the old K&R prototype-less days, when you declared functions implicitly by calling ("using") them. After a call such as "foo()", you can take the address of the function by just writing "foo" (without further declarations). At least that's my guess. In any case, the error message is really misleading, close to "tagged type must be declared at library level". ;-)