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From: "Chad R. Meiners" <crmeiners@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: What evil would happen?
Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 13:28:54 -0400
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Date: 2003-07-13T13:28:54-04:00
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"Wojtek Narczynski" <wojtek@power.com.pl> wrote in message
news:5ad0dd8a.0307130417.41548778@posting.google.com...
> Preben Randhol <randhol+abuse@pvv.org> wrote in message
news:<slrnbh02sj.4kj.randhol+abuse@kiuk0152.chembio.ntnu.no>...
>
> > Well then functions with side effects should be more resonable
>
> "Functions" with side effects can only inject their side effect into
> where they have been hardcoded to.
This is wrong.  Function have the capability to randomly introduce side
effects just like any other section of code.

>This is a serious limitation.
If it were true, I doubt it.  In my experience, functions are more useful
when they are pure.  Sure there are times when a function cannot be pure,
but sub-routine with a side-effect should be made a procedure in most cases.

> Sorry, the reasoning that everything that has return <x> statement is
> a function is not very viable.

In mathematics, functions only return single elements, which may be a
composite of some sort.  I suggest that if you want return composites from
functions you should return a record type.

type Composite(StringSize : Natural) is record
     User_Name : String(1..StringSize);
     Result    : Boolean;
end record;

function Parse_User_Name(Item : String) return Composite;

However, the following might also be a suitable procedure for the task

procedure Parse_UserName (Item : String;
                                              UserName : out String;
                                              NameSize : out Natural) ;

> Regards,
> Wojtek
-CRM