Re: Does the recommendation against variable names starting with SQL apply to constants?

Dennis,

I think you're saying "don't go looking for trouble"...don't just open
a source member and look for something you don't like.

I can somewhat agree with that...but on the other hand if you have the
time to browse, fix, and test...why shouldn't you make improvements
instead of surfing the net? :)

In this case however, I believe David was already in the code making
changes some of which involved the 'X0' constant given that he said
"Working on a RPGIII that has just been converted to IV. Need to test
a field to see if its value is 'X0'."

The way I read David's post, he searched to see if a constant for 'X0'
had already been defined, so he could make use of it. It had of
course but with a pretty poor name.

At this point, David, you and I seem to agree that improving the code
by using a better name for the constant is a good idea.

Charles

On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 9:20 AM, Dennis Lovelady <iseries@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi, Charles.  I agree to a point.

My response was to the concept of searching through source looking for
something that might be confusing.  If I were in there working on the
program, that's one thing, and I would definitely give it a better name than
cX0 or X_FOLLOWED_BY_ZERO.  But to scan source, find something I don't like,
and change the program on that basis...  bad idea in my opinion.

Dennis Lovelady
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dennislovelady
--
"As your attorney, it is my duty to inform you that it is not important that
you understand what I'm doing or why you're paying me so much money.  What's
important is that you continue to do so."
       -- Hunter S. Thompson's Samoan Attorney

Just because something isn't broken, doesn't mean it can't be improved
upon.

My first idiot test is, how many times per minute do I say WTF while
looking at the code...

If I can reduce the WTF's per minute with relative ease, I do so.
That will make things easier on the next poor slob to have to change
something.  That saves $$$ in the long run.

Maybe it's left over from the boy scouts, but I try to leave places
better than I found them.

Charles

On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 5:51 AM, Dennis Lovelady <iseries@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

For me,  it would have to pass the first idiot test: "Is it broken,"

and a

source members search would likely not be involved.

Dennis Lovelady
http://www.linkedin.com/in/dennislovelady
--
I bought some powdered water, but I don't know what to add to it.

readability of the code is a big one for me.

Well here's a question for you.

What would you do ? :

Working on a RPGIII that has just been converted to IV.
Need to test a field to see if its value is 'X0'.
Search the source for 'X0' to see if I need to create a constant.
In the D specs I find :D

cX0             C                   CONST('X0')

'c' being the RPGIII standard prefix for constants.
I realize that the length available for constant names did not make

for

readability, but...
Reading further, I find that most of the constants are coded in the
same way.


Pride ( or plain stubborn ) will not let me use the constant cX0, so
I'm adding my own long constant name with the same value.



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