Re: ILE RPG:Is the use of ITER & LEAVE Structured Programming? -- MIDRANGE-L



PaulMmn wrote:

> >Of course, if you haven't seen COBOL's ALTER GOTO, you don't know what you 
>are
> >missing. The ALTER GOTO branches to different locations based on the value
> >of a
> >variable. The more obscure the variable, the higher your Obfuscation Factor.
> >
> >Of course, COBOL is a much superior language to RPG (<vbg>).
> >Ducking before the incoming arrive,
> >Bob Larkin
>
> Then there was the ALTER verb on the old IBM/1130:
>
>                 ALTER paragraph-name-1 TO PROCEED TO paragraph-name-2
>                 ...
>         PARAGRAPH-NAME-1.
>                 GOTO    PARAGRAPH-NAME-7.
>         PARAGRAPH-NAME-4.
>                 ...
>         PARAGRAPH-NAME-2.
>                 ...
>         PARAGRAPH-NAME-7.
>                 ...
>
> It was self-modifying code.  The target of the ALTER statement was a
> paragraph that contained a single statement:  the GOTO.  Paragraph-name-2
> was any other paragraph name in the program.
>
> No matter what the compile listing looked like, the  code could change
> itself to branch all over the place!  Quick, efficient (I think it
> translated into a direct branch in the executable code), and a bear to
> debug!
>
> I only used it in one program (just to prove I could do it).
>
>

Paul,

I think you touched on the point at hand.  What was the cost per hour to have an
1130 and compare that to the cost per hour for a programmer.  When I was 
learning
to write code for a 360, if I didn't spend enough "man hours" to properly check 
my
code for an errant loop, I'd get horse whipped! :)

The times they are a changing ...

Incredibly tight code has given way to "readability".  Shift to reduce higher 
cost.

OnRead(UncontrollableRant) .... That's a new JAVA function ;-)

UncontrollableRant{

I don't even have a clue as to the price/performance of an 1130 compared to the
least expense 400 today, let's say better than ten, maybe twenty times, could 
even
be higher!  (I've got a PIM with more power than that 4K programmable 3741 that
cost 10x as much) What cost someone $2000 in hardware then can be had for $20 
now.
So let's talk labor costs.  What could be had for $10 then is >$100 now.

Way back when, I read statistics of 70-80% of all software dollars were spent on
maintenance.  "Readability" became a BIG factor.  Structuring code is a 
methodology
to reduce that percentage.   It's not the LAW just a good idea. :)

Should I walk into a shop my first question is not "Structured code?" it's 
"What's
the shop standard, if any?"  In either event I think to myself "I hope they kept
consistant in whatever they did."

IMHO, consistancy would reduce the understanding curve more than strict 
adherance
to "todays" structure dogma.  (Unless of course they were consistant with 
sticking
to "todays" dogma ;-) )

Pick a time frame: Top down! HIPO! SAA! Information Flow! GOTO's are God! GOTO's
are the Devil! CABxx are the Devil in disguise! LEAVE exists to avoid the shame 
of
coding a GOTO! ITER is a way the screw the next guy!

Whatever.

DOUxx is just as good as DOWxx if that's the way you see the world. Just be
consistant.  As the "next" guy that's all I ask.
}


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