Re: GOTO

["Charles Barnard" <wizodd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

People!

If even part of the time spent fighting about GOTO or not to GOTO had 
been spent on dealing with actual concerns (like, the end of the 
century!)  We'd all have less junk to deal with, and our users would 
have better code!

Structure, like any other part of the process is to provide a 
function.  That function is to make the code more understandable.  I 
don't care HOW you code the stuff, just so I can figure out WHY you 
did WHAT you did when I have to go in and fix it!

We have an industry with code generators which "document" their code 
by inserting the same comments we were all taught not to use, (i.e. 
the following line adds AAA to BBB....)

We have code generators which generate the identical subroutine 
multiple times.

We have date routines slavishly copied for decades which are 
incorrect.

We have clients who refuse the correct technical solution to a 
problem in order to protect their turf.

We may have clients sueing us all for malpractice or the equivilant 
for the damned date fiasco.

We still have no known methodology to determine whether or not a 
piece of code really does what it is supposed to.

We still have no good method for generation of test data to test a 
new program.

We still spend too much time hand-coding simple programs which ought 
to be trivial to generate (i.e. lookup & reports.)

Most computers still respond to typographical errors with the 
equivilant of "HUH? I don't understand."

Any one of these issues would return more value for time spent than 
adding to the "Why GOTO's are EVIL./Why GOTO's are needed." debate.

<<END SOAPBOX>>
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