NetNews Usenet Archive 1993 #1/NN_1993_1.iso/spool/comp/lang/c/19530

Text File | 1993-01-11 | 1.6 KB | 39 lines

Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Path: sparky!uunet!noc.near.net!mv!siia!wje
From: [e-mail] (Bill Ezell)
Subject: Re: Conversion of BASIC code to "C"
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Organization: Software Innovations, Inc.
References: <[e-mail]> <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 93 12:31:29 GMT
Lines: 28

>In article <[e-mail]>, (Scott Sivi) writes:
>> Does there exist a method or application by which BASIC files can be
>> converted
>> to "C".
>You probably couldn't even do it by hand unless the BASIC program was
>completely flowed and never used a GOTO! The way BASIC programmers spaghetti-
>code programs, I doubt it's possible. (I'm assuming you won't use goto in C.
>I wouldn't.)

An absurd statement, of course. There are several commercially available
Basic-to-C translators. Some are better than others. Given the enormous
number of Basic variants out there, if you're not using a common and
popular Basic, you might have trouble finding one.
We have one for MS PDS Basic to C.

As for never using a goto, there are quite good and practical reasons
for using them. This isn't to say that they should be used with any
regularity, but they can sometimes result in much more readable code.
A prime example is getting to a common error point in a routine that
has deep nesting of conditionals or other control constructs. Also,
many machine-generated C programs use gotos. Ever looked at a yacc parser?

[e-mail]
--
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| Bill Ezell                 |
| Software Innovations, Inc. |
| [e-mail]            |