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Date: | Thu, 11 Sep 2003 11:26:16 +0800 |
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Hi All
Well, one little letter stirred up quite a conversation. That's great -
TEAM_ADA has been quiet for a while :(
My thanks to all those who responded. I think Roger Racine hit the nail on
the head with his list of heuristics for shifting the lines to the left.
Perhaps I should say what spurred my inquiry:
I have found once I started writing verbose code that my debugging time
evaporated almost completely. When I do get bugs these days they tend to
be quick and easy to find. I think it has to do with the verbose format
forcing me to think carefully about each step I am taking while I write code.
For the record, I use the 'use' clause for the standard libraries and my
own 'toolbox' libraries. Packages I write in support of applications are
addressed in full. Parameters are always named.
I have insisted on this in teaching introductory programming because it
makes tracing what the students write much easier - and _they_ don't spend
forever debugging either! However, once you insist on this you run into
the problem of word-wrap when the code is printed. That's why I have to
find useable ways of keeping code inside the 70-character width limit
(which permits numbering in list files).
Once the students know it's pointless whinging about the extra typing (they
usually need the practice anyway ;) it works okay. Anyone else tried it?
Keep the faith
--------------------------------------------
Rick Duley
School of Engineering Science
Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia
http://eng.murdoch.edu.au/~rick
o'seas : +61 40 910 6049 .-_|\
aussie : 040 910 6049 / \
perth*_.-._/
"'Try' not. v
Do, or do not.
There is no such thing as 'Try'"
(Yoda, Star Wars VI)
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