Re: Service Program Argument Optimization

 >> But every variable is based on a pointer.  A static variable is based on
the pointer to static storage and a variable in a procedure is based on the
pointer to the call stack entry of that procedure.

That is irrelevant - it is still faster to calculate and store the required
value once during initialization than calculate it every time it is needed
at run time.  The number of parms in an RPG program is finite and relatively
small, so since there is a performance benefit from using a pre-initialized
pointer at the cost of a (relatively) small amount of storage, so that is
what the compiler used to do.

 >> is actually a relatively slow performer compared to pointer operations
on other systems.

Which is exactly why keeping one pointer per parm and loading it during the
initialization phase is a good trade off!

Barbara can tell us for sure, if this is true for RPG IV but I'd be
surprised if it wasn't.

Jon Paris
Partner400
www.Partner400.com