Re: Clever UNIX/C Constructs

Man, Frank you hit that nail right on the head.  How many "great new 
solutions" have washed up on our shores, been acclaimed the wave of the 
future, and three years later disappeared as another fad washes over us. 
In the meantime us regular people get to maintain that stuff for the next 
13 years.

_______________________
Booth Martin
Booth@MartinVT.com
http://www.MartinVT.com
_______________________




Frank Kolmann <FKolmann@netscape.net>
Sent by: owner-rpg400-l@midrange.com
01/06/2001 10:20 PM
Please respond to RPG400-L

 
        To:     rpg400-l@midrange.com
        cc: 
        Subject:        Clever UNIX/C Constructs

Scott Wrote: (I apologise if it was not)

>If you don't like the += type operators, don't vote for them.  If you do,
>vote for them.  Let the majority decide.  Isn't that what VOTES are FOR?
>
>Don't you feel the slightest bit guilty saying "I dont like the short 
form
>operators, so people shouldnt be allowed to vote for them!"???

Democracy is a wonderful thing but is it the best way to design a
compiler. This is not a question of personal likes and dislikes.
I contend that there are basic rules to programming and 
consequently programming languages must conform to
those rules. Guilty, of what should I be guilty. Do I impinge on
your personal freedoms, if so I apologise, it was never my
intent.

HHL languages developed to make it EASIER for you and
me to write computer code. One should respect others
especially those that will in future pick up your code and
MAINTAIN it.  The code should never be an exercise
in how terse and/or obtuse can I make a function.
Code must be self documenting.
It must be readable.
It must be simple.
(Was not a objective of COBOL to be all of the above)
In the final washup a programming language CANNOT
enforce readable, maintainable, simple code.
It is up to the programmers.  What is the reason the GOTO
is looked upon with scorn.  I have written perfectable readable
code using GOTOs, if one adhears to the KISS principal the
code is by definition simple.  I have seen structured IF/ELSE
code 20 levels deep with a few IFNE thrown in that I 
could only understand once I rewrote and untangled it.
I suppose all I am saying is that if you introduce a way to
complicate things programmers will do so. I still cringe
when I see some of my early code and I wonder just
who was I trying to impress. I could go on but enuff said.
Frank Kolmann

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