Re: Out parameters in a function

[Stephen Leake <stephen.a.leake.1@gsfc.nasa.gov>]

Darren New <dnew@san.rr.com> writes:

> > >        RESULT high, low
> >  h, l := split.int16 (365)
> 
> Note that in virtually all these languages, what this means is "return
> an anonymous tuple from the function."  AFAIK, FORTH is the only
> reasonably common language where you can *actually* return multiple
> values from a function, rather than returning a single structured value.

What is the difference between an "anonymous tuple" and "multiple
values"? That's how I would _define_ "anonymous tuple"!

In Forth, I can push several values on the stack, and then return
from the word (it's _not_ a "function", it's a "word" :). In Ada, I
can set several values in the return type, and then return. I don't
see that the difference is significant. The syntax is different, but
not the semantics.

Hmm. In Forth I can decide at run time how many values to push on the
stack. I can do that in Ada with an unconstrained array; not quite as
flexible, but way safer :). 

-- 
-- Stephe