Re: Visual Studio code convert to **free

There is nothing _wrong_ with that.

But in reality the problem is that the "simple" programs that the cycle is well suited for don't stay simple. They grow and can rapidly reach a point where as much time can be spent fighting the cycle as exploiting it. The simplified coding benefirts of the cycle can easily be replaced by equivalent template programs which have the additional beneift of standardization and being able to be maintained buy non-cycle programmers.

If you are in a one man shop then the "cycle where it fits" approach can work well - BUT - most are not in that situation.

I would also add that one reason I would never use the cycle now is that one of these days I'll retire/die/whatever and I like to think that my masterpieces will live on and not be discarded as old-fashioned and unmaintainable (however false that narrative may be).

Just my 5 cents worth.


Jon P.

On Mar 14, 2024, at 2:34 PM, James H. H. Lampert via MIDRANGE-L <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On 3/14/24 11:20 AM, Vance Stanley via MIDRANGE-L wrote:

Seems wrong to code using features from the 60's like the cycle.

. . .

Theres something to be said about writting code that can be
maintenanced by others.

*shrug*

To me, it seems wrong to ignore (and forcibly suppress) a built-in DO UNTIL loop that can either give you a ride through an entire file, or serve (with LR slaved to KC) as an event-loop for an interactive program.

And it's not MY fault that new programmers are not being trained to use the most unique and idiomatic features of languages, simply because they're old (and/or because they're unique to the language). All they have to do, in order to understand how a *simple* Cycle program (by which I mean, no secondary files or level breaks, just riding through a primary file) is RTFM.

By way of analogy, this whole business of expecting one programming language to look like another that is fundamentally different (and vendors pandering to this expectation) seems an awful lot like an amateur organist sitting down at the Harvard Flentrop, and playing it as if it were the "Teenie Genie" in his or her living room.

--
JHHL
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