Are there any performance issues with REXX, especially for large implementations?
I've only ever found huge file io a problem. Solution is to replace linein(File) with charin(File,,BufferLength). You can write your own linein() definition and the interpreter will find it before finding its own built-in linein(). Not sure that's terribly good design but it can be useful.
How much can you do self-contained in REXX today?
date(), time(), stream() (querying file attributes) is about it; everything else is OS-transparent only if it's spelt the same etc.
Like perl, are there ways to be strict with REXX (it wasn't totally apparent from the article)?
Yes. signal on novalue is the main one: it traps the use of undeclared variables.
Is REXX really that popular out there?
I believe it's very popular with mainframe sysadmin types, who don't do applications, natch.
Is anyone else uncomfortable with case insensitive languages?
Nope:-) The rexx philosophy is that since eNgLiSH is case-insensitive, even with proper names, so should the programming language be, except for inside quotes of course.
I didn't think the original article was that good actually. It didn't mention the built-in tracer, which is brilliant, nor the parse command, which is odd but handy. Nor did it mention the main lack, regexps, over (under?) perl, though there are regexp function libraries for some envs.
The clarity is the main thing: I once had to analyse the obscure reaches of some pseudo-code in an AI paper for a masters assignment and was able to type it in almost to the character in rexx, then put in loads of variable displays and other traces. Found a bug in the paper, got an A...
| Aparrently REXX will call an OS command if it
doen't recognise a keyword.
The "best practice" is to force the non-recognition e.g. 'grep' MyNeedle '*.txt', which can't accidently match rexx syntax 'cos it starts with a quote.
| So just plain including grep and uniq and so
forth as if they were functions is allowed. How
quaint! Just think of the hacks, if
| you misspell
pront or writte or opne or some random thing,
you could be running any random black-hat code
and
| perhaps never even knowing.
Opening scene: clueless luser notices things going slow for a few seconds. "Oh", they say. Later we find out they've been zombified.
There's a major theme of ambiguity of identity and purpose, so the Lyon character needs a verbal mannerism like "Hmm, this is true" just to make you keep asking "but is it?". Also there's a lot of disembodied voices (the first half of the story is all non-meatspace) so there's a backing track of, say, some Mozart choral stuff. The coolness of that also emphasises the frenzy in the machine room.
You never actually see Ivan etc, just see some TV news story about arrests in somewhere unpronouncable across the sitting room over supper.
The "Is he actually one of them?" question is an excellent last-scene twist leaving essential questions hanging in the air, like in The Sting.
Of course, you'd have to pretend it wasn't about real people etc...
Slashdot Mirror
I've only ever found huge file io a problem. Solution is to replace linein(File) with charin(File,,BufferLength). You can write your own linein() definition and the interpreter will find it before finding its own built-in linein(). Not sure that's terribly good design but it can be useful.
How much can you do self-contained in REXX today?
date(), time(), stream() (querying file attributes) is about it; everything else is OS-transparent only if it's spelt the same etc.
Like perl, are there ways to be strict with REXX (it wasn't totally apparent from the article)?
Yes. signal on novalue is the main one: it traps the use of undeclared variables.
Is REXX really that popular out there?
I believe it's very popular with mainframe sysadmin types, who don't do applications, natch.
Is anyone else uncomfortable with case insensitive languages?
Nope :-) The rexx philosophy is that since eNgLiSH is case-insensitive, even with proper names, so should the programming language be, except for inside quotes of course.
I didn't think the original article was that good actually. It didn't mention the built-in tracer, which is brilliant, nor the parse command, which is odd but handy. Nor did it mention the main lack, regexps, over (under?) perl, though there are regexp function libraries for some envs.
The clarity is the main thing: I once had to analyse the obscure reaches of some pseudo-code in an AI paper for a masters assignment and was able to type it in almost to the character in rexx, then put in loads of variable displays and other traces. Found a bug in the paper, got an A...
The "best practice" is to force the non-recognition e.g. 'grep' MyNeedle '*.txt', which can't accidently match rexx syntax 'cos it starts with a quote.
| So just plain including grep and uniq and so forth as if they were functions is allowed. How quaint! Just think of the hacks, if
| you misspell pront or writte or opne or some random thing, you could be running any random black-hat code and
| perhaps never even knowing.
You can misspell "FNATROR" in any language...
Opening scene: clueless luser notices things going slow for a few seconds. "Oh", they say. Later we find out they've been zombified.
There's a major theme of ambiguity of identity and purpose, so the Lyon character needs a verbal mannerism like "Hmm, this is true" just to make you keep asking "but is it?". Also there's a lot of disembodied voices (the first half of the story is all non-meatspace) so there's a backing track of, say, some Mozart choral stuff. The coolness of that also emphasises the frenzy in the machine room.
You never actually see Ivan etc, just see some TV news story about arrests in somewhere unpronouncable across the sitting room over supper.
The "Is he actually one of them?" question is an excellent last-scene twist leaving essential questions hanging in the air, like in The Sting.
Of course, you'd have to pretend it wasn't about real people etc...
What eles?