On Sun, 7 Jun 2020 10:33:34 +0000, Seymour J Metz wrote:
>I generally get by with control structures like case (select/when),
>if/elsif/when, iterate and leave, but I unashamedly use GOTO, when it is the
>cleanest way to do something; I refuse to avoid a useful construct just
>because it is not politically correct. In the case of COBOL,
>
Alas, Rexx lacks GOTO and SIGNAL fails to clean up resources,
largely a consequence of lacking lexical scope.
>I consider the out of line PERFORM to be far more dangerous. I have a similar
>issue with REXX; it does not have lexical scope, and you can fall into a
>procedure.
>
A noteworthy 1976 paper (behind a paywall):
Software malpractice — a distasteful experience†
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/spe.4380060303
... describes the pitfall set by a (too) clever programmer's relying on
optimization by falling into procedures.
† In the day, I read it free in the University library.
-- gil
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