From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me
X-Spam-Level: 
X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID
	autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit
X-Google-Thread: fac41,9a0ff0bffdf63657
X-Google-Attributes: gidfac41,public
X-Google-Thread: 1108a1,9a0ff0bffdf63657
X-Google-Attributes: gid1108a1,public
X-Google-Thread: 103376,4b06f8f15f01a568
X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public
X-Google-Thread: f43e6,9a0ff0bffdf63657
X-Google-Attributes: gidf43e6,public
From: eachus@spectre.mitre.org (Robert I. Eachus)
Subject: Re: Software landmines (loops)
Date: 1998/09/11
Message-ID: <EACHUS.98Sep11191043@spectre.mitre.org>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 390267535
References: <l5HC1.6840$wN.1856764@news.giganews.com>
 <6rfra4$rul$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <35DBDD24.D003404D@calfp.co.uk>
 <m3ogt3qgca.fsf@mheaney.ni.net> <6sbuod$fra$1@hirame.wwa.com>
 <35f51e53.48044143@ <904556531.666222@miso.it.uq.edu.au>
 <6sgror$je8$3@news.indigo.ie> <6sh3qn$9p2$1@hirame.wwa.com>
 <Oi4H1.219$qj1.315418@newsread.com> <35ece7ee.1489912@news.erols.com>
 <m31zpq4pim.fsf@mheaney.ni.net> <905134925.147581@iris.nyx.net>
 <35f34bbd.7903825@news.erols.com> <6t1aqm$l2i$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com>
 <905305154.719038@iris.nyx.net>
Organization: The Mitre Corp., Bedford, MA.
Newsgroups: comp.lang.eiffel,comp.object,comp.software-eng,comp.lang.ada
Date: 1998-09-11T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


   Robert Dewar said:

   > There is no "founder" of structured programming. The
   > idea of structured programming is an old one, well known
   > to anyone writing Algol-60 from very early on. Various
   > people have produced specific rules concerning their
   > idea of how to adapt this principle to particular
   > programming languages (e.g. the "structured period"
   > for ANSI-74 COBOL), but I would not say it is reasonable
   > to regard anyone as "founding" structured programming.

   Anecdotal, but worth noting.  In the mid-sixties when the Algol-60
standard was being reviewed, Wirth came up with a "clean" proposal
known as Algol-W.  This lost to the very complex language which became
Algol-68.  But along the way there was an implementation of Algol-W
created for the IBM 360 series, origianlly written I think in 1967.

   Much later 1976? I used this compiler to create a parser for a
programming languages course.  I found it extremely frustrating that
the compiler printed a warning message "Is this goto really
necessary?" for each of five gotos which implemented "panic mode"
error recovery in the (recursive descent) parser.  Today, of course I
could use exceptions and appropriately located handlers to do the same
thing. 

   I think that the warning message was original equipment on the
compiler, someone else may know.  But more importantly, I saw this
message for the first time in that parser, although I had compiled
many programs using that compiler, both programs I had earlier written
in Algol-60, and programs targeted to that compiler.  So I know that
when I programmed in Algol-60, I just plain did not use gotos.  Not
because I was taught that way--heck my first program was written in
SOAP-IV for an IBM-650--but because Algol-60 discouraged gotos.
--

					Robert I. Eachus

with Standard_Disclaimer;
use  Standard_Disclaimer;
function Message (Text: in Clever_Ideas) return Better_Ideas is...