Right! Of all of the problematic coding techniques in the world, EQU * in instructions is very low on the list IMHO. In order to have an odd (non-halfword) instruction label address really bite you, you would need to combine EQU * with two other questionable practices: interleaving code and data (to screw up the alignment), and branching "indirectly" to the address in question, because a direct branch or jump would give you a simple assembly error.
Charles -----Original Message----- From: IBM Mainframe Assembler List [mailto:ASSEMBLER-LIST@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf Of Mark Hammack Sent: Friday, August 3, 2018 9:17 AM To: ASSEMBLER-LIST@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU Subject: Re: EQU * considered harmful In 1985 (first MF assembler gig, I had been doing PC programming before that), we were using Assembler H on MVS/XA (as I recall). Our shop standard was to use EQU * for labels and ALWAYS code a a label on a branch in open code, even if it was just skipping a single instruction. Macros were another matter (and we had a lot). Personally, I've only had a couple of instances since 1982 where EQU * caused an issue that DS 0H wouldn't have...and the assembler caught those.
