Re: NOTO (or "no GOTO in FreeForm RPG")

Hear Hear!

Chris Bougher
Mohawk Industries
(706) 272-1868


                                                                                
                                                        
                      Scott Klement                                             
                                                        
                      <klemscot@klements        To:       RPG programming on 
the AS400 / iSeries <rpg400-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>                
                      .com>                     cc:                             
                                                        
                      Sent by:                  Subject:  Re: NOTO (or "no GOTO 
in FreeForm RPG")                                       
                      rpg400-l-bounces@m                                        
                                                        
                      idrange.com                                               
                                                        
                                                                                
                                                        
                                                                                
                                                        
                      02/16/2004 11:32                                          
                                                        
                      AM                                                        
                                                        
                      Please respond to                                         
                                                        
                      RPG programming on                                        
                                                        
                      the AS400 /                                               
                                                        
                      iSeries                                                   
                                                        
                                                                                
                                                        
                                                                                
                                                        





Hello Reeve,

> Scott's solution is an excellent template.  However, logic is not
required
> to figure out what GOTO means, and in the interest of discussing the
> presenting problem in isolation, I'm assuming a given program's coding
> technique did not include a side order of marinara.

Writing code without GOTOs is not a new concept that appeared with /FREE.
It has been consider a "Best Practice" to code without GOTOs for 20 years
already.

When I was in college, the teachers there would give me an "F" (a failing
grade) on a program if you used a GOTO.  That was 15 years ago!

When I went back to school 5 years ago to learn some new programming
languages, again, the teacher made it very clear that he would not teach
GOTO, and that we were not to use it.

I did not learn my techniques because of free-form RPG, even in RPG/400 I
did my best to write code without GOTOs.  (Though, GOTOs to the ENDSR tag
of a subroutine were permitted at the time, since there was no LEAVESR)

> Yes, CABxx and CASxx meld logic and branching, but I'd consider their
> (let's include ITER, LEAVE, and LEAVESR in the grouping) use to be in
> the second order of complexity while a simple GOTO is the first order of
> complexity.  Understanding how a SELECT group works is not intuitive.

Huh?  Understanding a SELECT group is not intuitive?!!  This is hardly
complex stuff here.  If a SELECT group is too difficult for you, you have
no business being a programmer.

Really...  If you take Computer Programming 101, a first-timers
introductory course to programming, they'll teach you SELECT (or SWITCH,
or ELSEIF or some equivalent) during that course.

Why is the iSeries dying out?  Why is it considered a "legacy system"?
Because of the programmers.  As long as they absolutely refuse to adopt
anything invented after the 1970s, the machine will continue to look like
something from the 1970s.

Don't be one of those people.
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