MSRS002@ECNCDC.BITNET ("THE DOCTOR.") (05/30/89)
Type transfers should be kept to a minimum as they are quite implementation
specific. In the Third Edition, Wirth has an entire chapter on low level
facillities ( ch 29 ). "He is strongly advised to resort to these facilities
only in cases where their use is clearly unavoidable, because the regular
language facilities do not cater to the problem." ( Wirth, p. 124 )
My own practice is to avoid them in general and isolate them in implementation
specific modules. This way, if I decide to port the program from one computer
or compiler to another, I only need to check this implementation specific
module which is fairly small compared to the main program.
The strange thing is, normally I am required to use some other language, and
I'm allowed to "resort to Modula" only when writing something very machine
specific which "cannot" be done in the other language. Therefore, I write m
mostly implementation dependant modules. Sometimes I fudge a little on the
"cannot" and use modula anyhow.
The Doctor.
Tom Ruby
MSRS002@ECNCDC
No disclaimers, I admit my guilt freely.