RE: No Subroutines (was Re: Debugging many subprocedures)

> From: Francis Lapeyre
> 
> I have to agree with Tom. Sometimes, it's either multiple RETURNS or
use
> (gasp!) GOTO/TAG.

Actually, I'm going to argue a couple of points here.

First, the hard-science programming side of it: If your language
provides an IF/ELSE/ENDIF and a LEAVE operation for looping constructs,
then you should never need a GOTO.  Following that line of thought, with
the proper use of "accepted" structured programming constructs, you
should never need multiple returns.

Second, coding multiple returns in a routine CAN be a bad technique in
and of itself.  Multiple returns get to be problematic when you're
actually returning a value, and the value you return depends on which
point you're exiting from.  Even with a breakpoint on a P-E, it can be
difficult to tell what is actually being returned.  And if the calling
routine is not placing the value into a temporary value but instead
using it as a parameter to another routine (possibly one for which you
have no source), or worse yet returning the value to ITS caller, the
code can get difficult to debug.

That being said, I'm not against multiple returns.  There are few things
I am adamantly opposed to because of their intrinsic nature.  But be
consistent and use common sense, and you'll be okay.

Joe