OpenEuphoria

RE: GOTO - A fresh perspective?

• Posted by Rod Jackson <rodjackson_x at hotmail.com> Feb 10, 2002
• 437 views

Hi 'Doc',

doc at edgetap.net wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I will try and keep this short although I feel like writing volumes! 
> First a short history: early last year I came across Euphoria and was 
> (almost) gobsmacked at the flexibilty it seemed to offer. So I 
> downloaded and set to work writing an test program for doing OpenGL 
> graphics. Within days I had networking and had two machines with 
> synchronised displays. The exercise showed me that Euphoria was 


> However, this makes it all the more 
> difficult for me to figure why you seem to be adopting language-centric 
> arguments in your debate rather than accepting that if a feature helps 
> someone do something easier then it is intrinsically "good" for them, if 
> 
> not for you personally.

Well, for me it's because it's the only real argument. Performance? Can 
probably be worked around, and even if not it just bogs the discussion 
into a comparison of trade-offs.

But I agree with you... if someone is helped by a GOTO, then more power 
to them. I'm not going to try to strip it away from all their languages 
(although I've heard that crusade-call before.)

>From this it is obvious that I consider a 
> programming language as nothing more than a tool and that the programmer 
> 
> is THE most important factor in the overall equation.

Mmm, I see you're position, but I can't whole-heartedly agree with it. 
No *one* programmer is that important (I think we all understand that), 
and honestly, even if a vast majority of programmers are the 
consideration, there are other factors that I think can take precedence.

<snip>

>Bluntly, it is the programmer who is 
> important not the language, and it is the programmer who should be given 
> 
> the choice and the decision should not be made for him/her by other 
> people who have no use for a feature.

To a good extent, I agree. Hence, the helpfulness of source code for a 
language. Although I do wish to point out that I don't believe 
programmers are the ultimate, final end-concern anymore than I think 
consumers are the ultimate, final end-concern in running a business.

<snip>

> RapidEuphoria giving Kat, at least, the choice to use GoTo without 
> going through hoops will of course make the decision a no-brainer 

Well, I understand your position. I've been there myself.

But don't you think that if you're evaluating Euphoria based on it's 
lack of a GOTO, that there may be others who evaluate it based on it's 
consistency, or even just the presence of a GOTO? Surely both of those 
catagories need to be factored in as well?


Rod Jackson