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Ugh. I've just had to rip data structures out of a whole bunch of
programs. It's not that I'm against the idea in and of itself, it's
just that it's not a wholesale rip and replace, for several reasons.
Here are two of the biggest:
1. You need different data structures for the input and output.
2. You need different data structures when you're reading from two
different logicals.
Yes, you can get around these with clever use of basing pointers. But
the older I get the more I absolutely HATE "clever" programming. It
almost always introduces a subtle bug somewhere down the line either as
conditions change or as someone who doesn't quite appreciate the subtle
nuances of that code has to maintain it.
And yes, I understand that you can also get around this with EVAL-CORR.
But really, is that what we're striving for? Moving the data ourselves
rather than letting the compiler do it? It gets even more frustrating
when you see an UPDATE with the %fields and you end up having to repeat
the qualifying data structure name before every field name.
As always, use the technique when appropriate.
Joe
As we are encouraged more and more to use data structures for IO, this
can become a more-used technique, I think.
Vern
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