Re: In case statment? (was Re: is exception when others => null; smart?)

["Marin David Condic" <mcondic.auntie.spam@acm.org>]

Well, one excuse for always having a "when others" in a case statement might
be that you anticipate additions to the enumerated type driving it and you
want the code to take come appropriate action if it gets a new, unknown
value.

If you never use a "when others", you get the advantage that perhaps the
compiler or runtime will catch inadvertent errors. If you always use "when
others" you get the advantage of a built in accommodation for a software
fault. Its an engineering tradeoff so "never" and "always" don't seem to
really apply. It depends on the nature of the system and the consequences of
hitting a case statement with a value not covered.

MDC
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Marin David Condic
I work for: http://www.belcan.com/
My project is: http://www.jast.mil/

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Peter Richtmyer <prichtmyer@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1b585154.0210291023.70af4929@posting.google.com...
> Robert A Duff <bobduff@shell01.TheWorld.com> wrote in message
news:<wccpttyk1ia.fsf@shell01.TheWorld.com>...
>
> I find this topic somewhat amusing because my previous employer
> required a "when others" on ALL case statements, even when
> all values were covered by the "when" clauses. My current job
> requires us to specify all cases, and we are not allowed to
> put a "when others" clause in.
>