Was FORTRAN buggy 4317

On Thu, 14 Sep 06 11:05:56 GMT in alt.folklore.computers,

I will remove unused args from lists, and useless return values.

If there are "dependencies on things looking or working or something a certain way" then I find those kludges out fast and get rid of them so I can move forward. Most of those chunks of code are because the "programmer" didn't understand what he or the program were doing: totally unnecessary complexity to do what is fundamentally a simple function.

Compiler checks and linker warnings have got a lot better. So have multiple module cross-reference utilities.

The approach is to make the changes incrementally, compile, link, test, diff the sources after every commit, diff extensive trace outputs every run, and never actually delete code until you're nearly finished. Putting all these actions in the project makefile ensures that everything is as automated and repeatable as possible. I even use makefile actions to run the program under the debugger.

Like Charlie, I have a number of 30-50% LoC reductions in my history. No guts, no glory! But above all, KISS!

-- Thanks. Take care, Brian Inglis Calgary, Alberta, Canada

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