1. Re: When to use Which variable type?
Lucien T. Elliott writes:
> is there any rule (or logic) as to when one should use an object,
> or a sequence, or any other types over others?
For me it's quite simple. I consider the set of possible values that
might be assigned to a given variable during execution of my program.
I then choose the most restrictive of the predefined types (object, sequence,
atom, integer). For small programs I usually leave it at that, but for larger
programs I may go a step further and define my own new type that is more
specialized or restrictive, especially if I expect to have many
variables of that type. I do this mainly for the tighter error-checking that
I get, but it also helps to document the purpose of that variable better.
> in the collection of code that i have studied thus far, there seems
> to be no logic as to why a variable is defined as a sequence or
> as an object.
If a variable can only be assigned a sequence value then I
will normally declare it as a sequence. However, consider
the case of a variable that is assigned the result of gets(). Normally
a sequence is returned by gets(), but at end-of-file a -1 atom will
be returned. If you declare x as a sequence and you execute:
x = gets(file_num)
when it's the end-of-file, Euphoria will pull the plug on your program and
report a type_check failure. You should declare x as an
object so both sequences *and* atoms (such as -1) can be legally
assigned to it. You could then have a test like:
x = gets(file_num)
if atom(x) then
exit -- end of file!
end if
to handle the end-of-file situation.
Note that this allows more than just -1 to be assigned. A purist
might want to make his own type that would allow sequences and -1,
but not any other atoms to be assigned.
There are some other functions (e.g. get_mouse) that will also return
a sequence in some cases and an atom in other cases. The results
of these functions are typically assigned to object variables.
Finally, there can be a very slight performance difference
depending on whether you choose object, sequence, atom or integer.
Usually a more restrictive type will gain you a tiny bit
of speed, but occasionally it can work the opposite way.
Regards,
Rob Craig
Rapid Deployment Software
