[Dylan16807]

I don't think a lot of theory went into most of C's syntax. History is important but it doesn't make designs good.

And if we really want to get into how much C was copied, that's more because of familiarity than correctness. Look how many languages copied C's goofy precedence for bitwise operations, which was only there because they made a syntax change and didn't want to disrupt a few existing programs.

But all this aside, you didn't answer the question at all. What was their unbelievable claim?

[com2kid]

> I don't think a lot of theory went into most of C's syntax. History is important but it doesn't make designs good.

Agreed. C is just what sort of worked at the time. 50 years on, we can do better. Theory is what lets us do so in a scientific way, instead of just throwing stuff at the wall and seeing what works.

Although, there is something to be said for testing out new syntax and seeing how it feels in the real world!