[fpc-pascal] The reason why linus torvalds hate-pascal

[Alan Krause]

mm wrote:
> Using "Exit" is not of a bad programming practice. Suppose one has to
> write a big procedure, say 150 lines of code. Suppose now that, instead
> of writing
>
>   if X = 0 then Exit;
>
> at the beginning of the procedure, one writes
>
>   if X <> 0 then
>   begin
>     ...
>
> Does a reader immediately see that, when X = 0, the procedure does
> nothing? No. They have to read all the code, to search for the "end"
> that closes the "begin" in order to get sure there are no instructions
> after this "end". In such a case, with the "Exit" instruction the
> procedure is much easier to read.


I have to agree, and can give an even better example. In the software I 
write, many times there are several conditions which need to be checked. 
If any of these conditions apply, then an appropriate result code should 
be set and the rest of the routine should not be executed. An example:

if ( payments per year <> 12 ) then begin
   Result := 1;
   exit;
end;

if ( rate = 0 ) then begin
   Result := 2;
   exit;
end;

... add 10 more checks

' ok - we have made it through all the validation checks, so now lets do 
some actual work
' relevant code goes here

The above is *so* much clearer than implementing 12 nested levels of 
if..then..else.

Alan