RE: Clever UNIX/C Constructs

[Eric DeLong <Eric.DeLong@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

     Doug, I'm pretty sure Factor 1 was optional in RPGII on the S36, as 
     of '85 or so. I remember coding that way long before ever seeing 
     RPGIII or RPG/400.
     
     Then again, I sometimes can't remember what I did yesterday, so my 
     memory on this may be faulty.
     
     ED


______________________________ Reply Separator
_________________________________
Subject: Re: Clever UNIX/C Constructs
Author:  "Douglas Handy" <SMTP:dhandy1@bellsouth.net> at EXCHANGE
Date:    1/2/01 9:31 AM


David,
     
>I have always been fond of
>ADD 1 CYOORD
>
>That one has worked since 196x...
     
Actually, it didn't work in the '60s or even the '70s, and that is part of
the 
point.  When I first started with RPG II in 1979, factor 1 was not optional,

thus you wrote:
     
      C           CYOORD    ADD  1         CYOORD
     
As I recall, it wasn't until after RPG III on the S/38 that factor 1 became 
optional in RPG II -- it may have the last release or two on the S/34, or
more 
likely one of the S/36 releases.
     
And I always *did* prefer to leave factor 1 blank when it matched the result

field.  Not so much because it was less typing (not a big deal), but because
it 
was easier to read during maintenance -- you didn't have to examine the
field 
names to make sure they matched.  RPG field names (At least then) tended to
be 
somewhat cryptic, and it is/was all too easy to "read over" a single
character 
difference.
     
So to me  RESULT += FACTOR2  *is* the equivalent of:
     
      C                     ADD  FACTOR2   RESULT
     
whereas RESULT = RESULT + FACTOR2 is the equivalent of the old:
     
     C           RESULT    ADD  FACTOR2   RESULT
     
I'd welcome this change, just as I did making factor 1 optional.  Not
because it
saves typing, but because it makes "reading" source easier during
maintenance.
I suspect this will be less of an issue as more programs have "real"
variable 
names which are longer than 6 characters.  But OTOH, that may make one even
less
prone to pay close attention to when two variables names are extremely
similar 
but not identical.
     
I wouldn't spend lots of my $100 for it, but then it didn't cost much
either...
     
Doug
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