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Bob wrote:
>surely one of the major reasons for using Pascal-like languages is
>type-safety, which drastically reduces the need for such run-time
>checks by the programmers.
But CAP *is* indeed type-safe, isn't it?
>It seems to me that CAP( x ) should return x where x does not have
>a corresponding capital letter, or at least consistently return the
>same thing, eg 0X.
Well, I've been working with Oberon language from the beginning of the Oberon System, I've read the documentations and the books, and one thing that is emphasized by Wirth time and again is, that the user/programmer should have strict rules to use, but he should not be patronized. In Windows, you always get those stupid questions like "Are you really, really sure you want to do X?" They are an annoyance at best, and a pest to call it by name.
The philosophy of Oberon instead is: If it is possible to give a result, then give it. If it is impossible, then trap.
Surely, it is possible to give a result for CAP(" "), and that it is not printable is not a matter of the compiler/runtime environment at all!
Also, CAP is a predefined function implemented within the language. The idea behind a "system function", if you will, is that they are FAST and do things that you can't do any other way. It's not their duty to do extensive checking or error-handling. They have to be FAST and SMALL. If you're not aiming at "FAST AND SMALL", but at "SECURE AND EASY-TO-USE", then don't use it! There's Strings.Upper to do it the secure and easy-to-use way. Have a look at the docu of Strings.Upper. It says it does exactly what you want CAP to do.
Rene
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Received on Thu Sep 16 2004 - 11:47:20 UTC