Crisms

Crisms are a bonus feature of some compilers and assemblers that display the difficulty level or number of warnings and errors when compiling a program. The term is believed to have originated from the C programming language, although it is not a standard feature in C.

Crisms are usually displayed in the form of a short message or code, often in the format of "cris(z=value)" where z is an integer value. The value is often a cumulative score based on the number of warnings and errors encountered during compilation.

The primary purpose of crisms is to provide a quick visual indicator of the quality of the code being compiled. By examining the crism, developers can easily determine whether the code is stable, brittle, or contains errors that need to be addressed. Crisms are often reflected in the output of the compiler, allowing developers to quickly scan through the output for issues.

The use of crisms has also led to some creative approaches in coding, where developers might strive to achieve a low crism score to demonstrate the quality of their code. However, crisms should not be seen as a definitive measure of code quality, as they can be influenced by various factors such as compiler flags and the complexity of the code.

Despite the benefits of crisms, they are not universally supported by all compilers and assemblers. Therefore, developers should be aware of the crism behavior specific to their chosen compiler and adjust their coding practices accordingly.