[Tutor] RE: global vars vs. func args

[Erik Price]

Whoah -- some questions about those quotes!


On Monday, March 11, 2002, at 10:05  PM, Danny Yoo wrote:

> """If you have a procedure with ten parameters, you probably missed
> some."""

Is this sarcasm, or seriousness?  I don't think I've encountered many 
functions that take more than four parameters, usually three or less.  
And I know I haven't written any.  Is it really okay to make such a 
detailed function?  (I mean, "of course you can do what you want", but 
is it the convention among programmers to do so?  Is it "expensive"?)

> """Think of all the psychic energy expended in seeking a fundamental
> distinction between "algorithm" and "program"."""

I was wondering the very same thing.  An algorithm is like a 
progam-within-a-program, isn't it?  I like this quote, if I'm 
interpeting it correctly.

> """Interfaces keep things tidy, but don't accelerate growth: Functions
> do."""

This one is a bit beyond me.  My best guess is this:  whereas an 
application (with an interface of some sort) is a neat way to let the 
user know what they can and can't do, it is not as flexible as a 
function that could accept parameters to do the same thing, since the 
function could be incorporated into a greater program.  This makes me 
think of Unix tools, with their ability to pipe and redirect standard 
input and output in a flexible way.

These are curious quotes.  Thank you for posting.


Erik