[comp.lang.modula2] "Standard" code?

coms2269@waikato.ac.nz (Brent C Summers) (10/22/90)

In article <INFO-M2%90101715525164@UCF1VM.BITNET>, GRANGERG@VTVM1.BITNET (Greg Granger) writes:
>>>       x:= VAL(LONGREAL, i);
>>
>>  I would hope this doesn't work, since VAL() is meaningless for LONGREALs.
>>And ISO M-2 may do away with LONGREALs anyway.
>>
> 
> Well sorry to rain on your parade, but in TopSpeed that is exactly how
> it works.  As to standards, well sometimes what works is more useful
> than what is standard.  I found no reference to LONGREALs in N Wirth's
> 3th ed of PIM2 and I don't know much about the ISO M2 work (cept it's
> [Deleted]

Hit 'im again!
As far as I can gather from the third working draft m2 standard (a year old
I admit, but the most recent I have) VAL _should_ work on LONGREALs as it was
suggested.

True, "should" <> "does" and in the meantime we all have to live with the
current rash of products (and possibly forever....?), but is anyone else at
least attempting to write std code?  There are three or four of us down here
in the pit at the bottom of the world producing a lot of code looking like:

(*************** Mk 1 Compiler FUDGE *****************>>
          Blah := CAST(CARDINAL, MyProcessId);
<<******************** End of FUDGE *******************)
          Blah := CARDINAL(MyProcessId);

..in anticipation of the great day when "grep" can be brought to bear on
the word "FUDGE" and all humankind's sins are washed away....... urrrrk!

No?  Just us?

NB: Idea, format and insistance all (as far as I know) originated with
    Keith Hopper.

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