Re: Todays WTF

["Steve Richter" <stephenrichter@xxxxxxxxx>]

On 8/10/07, Nathan Andelin <nandelin@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Good points, Joe.
>
> RPG may be a procedurally oriented language, but having variables and data with module-level scope is no different than having variables and data with class-level scope in an OO language.

that is a good point.  a strong case can be made that the less state
there is in a program, the better.  As I understand the contrast of
imperative and functional languages to be, the variable action of a
procedure should be governed entirely by its parameters.  That means a
procedure should not access a static or class member variable. To do
that would mean the procedure cant be isolated and tested completely -
it cant be verified.  This also means you cant read a record in a
database and perform an action. Which kind of means you should just
power down the system since none of the code you run is close to being
verifiable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperative_programming

-Steve