"Strong typing vs. strong testing"

[TheFlyingDutchman]

On Sep 30, 1:02 am, Paul Rubin <no.em... at nospam.invalid> wrote:
> >> > > > in C I can have a function maximum(int a, int b) that will always
> >> > > > work. Never blow up, and never give an invalid answer. If someone
> >> > > > tries to call it incorrectly it is a compile error.
> > The second sentence is not disproved by a cast from one datatype to
> > another (which changes the value) that happens before maximum() is called.
>
>     int maximum(int a, int b);
>
>     int foo() {
>       int (*barf)() = maximum;
>       return barf(3);
>     }
>
> This compiles fine for me.  Where is the cast?  Where is the error message?
> Are you saying barf(3) doesn't call maximum?

With Tiny C on my system, your code does not cause maximum to give an
incorrect value, or to blow up:

int maximum(int a, int b)
{
  printf("entering maximum %d %d\n",a,b);
  if ( a > b )
    return a;
  else
    return b;
}

int foo()
{
   int (*barf)() = maximum;
   return barf(3);
}

int main (int argc, char *argv[])
{
  printf("maximum is %d\n",foo());
}

------------- output -----------------------------------
entering maximum 3 4198400
maximum is 4198400