The reason I was considering the standard document was that the REA book is clearly not rigorously adhering to the standard. I'm sure Stroustrup is more faithful to the standard. I was just thinking it might be helpful to have the actual letter of the standard on hand. I'll be the first to admit standards documents can be inaccessible to most mortals. I've read some that are quite lucid, and some (ECMA Script comes to mind) that are virtually intractible.
I still find the size of the C++ document surprising. What the heck is in it? The grammar takes all of 22 pages. I find that extremely large. But to increase that by 35 times, is quite an accomplishment. I'll try not to reiterate what John wrote. A standarrds document not only describes the grammar in BNF, but also needs to be very explicit about how things must behave. John showed a template example. And, it is
On Thu, 10 Apr 2003 16:52:04 -0400
"Steven T. Hatton"