Re: An illuminating experiment using platform().
- Posted by Jim C. Brown Jul 12, 2008
- 862 views
You give some good examples of how flexible ifdef is: Especially for DEBUG and defining functions. It is not a question of speed but flexibility of what you can do at parse time.
Right, the value of ifdef is independent from its use to differenciate between platforms. That's a secondary property of the ifdef.
You haven't explained why anyone should care if machine_func(53,{}) and platform() return the same result or not. Who has ever heard of machine_func(53,{}).
It is machine_func(M_PLATFORM) and it was used for platform() in misc.e before platform() became a builtin. Basically they should be the same function, otherwise the results might be confusing.
I don't think it is necessary and I do think it is a bad idea to remove something that already exists and is relied on just because there is a more capable method now.
It is rather analogous to banning radio because people can go buy tvs.
Shawn
You make a good point. machine_func(M_PLATFORM) has been decapricated since before Euphoria went FOSS, and it is still in there. It is also suffering from bitrot.
