| Re: Yet again, The Sky is Falling! [message #52969 is a reply to message #52872] |
Fri, 09 March 2007 10:36   |
David Fanning
Messages: 11724
Registered: August 2001
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Senior Member |
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Paul van Delst writes:
> But, then it's not an input parameter. It's an output.
It generally has to get into the program somehow. :-)
> I'm f95-centric, and I know it doesn't apply completely to IDL for a number of reasons,
> but I don't think people should new code where the functionality depends on *how* the
> arguments are passed (i.e. by value or reference).
I'm not saying "pass by reference" is not dangerous, it is,
but it is no more dangerous, it seems to me, than a dynamically
(and weakly) typed language. Goodness, one of the reasons I LIKE
IDL is because you can do all these weird things that would
get your knickers in a snit in some other language.
Sure, you have to learn a few rules, and usually you learn
them the hard way, but you only have to learn them three or
four times before they get cemented in your brain. I think
it is a small price to pay for a LOT of power.
Cheers,
David
--
David Fanning, Ph.D.
Fanning Software Consulting, Inc.
Coyote's Guide to IDL Programming: http://www.dfanning.com/
Sepore ma de ni thui. ("Perhaps thou speakest truth.")
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