Dave,
It's a good point you raise, but it is very dangerous to code to something
that is implementation specific, rather than to a standard. Who's to say
that in the next release of the package the implementor doesn't decide to do
it a different way and your code may still work, but produce indeterminate
results?
I know in the past some of us have coded to get the last ounce of juice out
the machine, but I believe that these days you have to assume that things
will change (and change quickly without notice) and that to code to a
standard is the only real way of ensuring your program is future-proof.
Regards
Neil
David Cronk wrote:
>
> Just a thought. When people ask questions like this on the LAM list, is
> it possible to give answers that are specific to LAM? I would agree
> with giving the clarification that the answer is LAM specific, with
> reference to the standard, but some people want to take advantage to
> implementation specific features. I beleive in portability as much as
> anyone, but some people are looking to take advantage of implementation
> specific details. You guys know the details of how LAM does things, as
> long as you clarify that a solution is not portable, I don't see the
> harm in letting people know how to take advantage of implementation
> specific details.
>
> Just a thought.
>
> Dave.
>
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