Re: Clever UNIX/C Constructs

[Douglas Handy <dhandy1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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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