Avoid embedding code specific details in comments.
Init loop counter in R7 to 5
A comment should not name anything explicitly stated in the instruction. 'R7'
in the comment is not merely redundant. If the loop register needs to be
changed later on, then the comment will have to be updated also. If it's not
updated, then it becomes misleading, perhaps worse than no comment at all. I
would prefer
LA R7,5 Prepare to search for delimiter
.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
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-----Original Message-----
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On Behalf Of
Mike Schwab
Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 2:17 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: EXTERNAL: Coding for the future
*** EXTERNAL EMAIL - Use caution when opening links or attachments ***
But what is Register 7 going to be used for, and why does it need a 5?
I. E. Init loop counter in R7 to 5.
On Wed, Jun 16, 2021 at 11:48 AM Savor, Thomas
<00000330b7631be3-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote:
>
> ==> LA R7,5 Put 5 in register 7
>
> It depends on the intended target audience. Now I and you know that a 5 is
> put in Register 7, but many shops have only a couple Assembler
> Programmers....but many more Cobol programmers. Telling "them" that a 5 is
> put in Register 7 can be helpful to solving a problem or learning what a
> program does.
>
> Way too many Cobol programmers that I run into are scared of looking at
> Assembler...like just looking at it or trying to learn it is going to give
> you Ebola...so even very basic instructions can be helpful...especially if
> Instruction says LA 7,5 then it really helps "them".
>
> Thanks,
>
> Tom
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU> On
> Behalf Of Seymour J Metz
> Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 11:58 AM
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: EXTERNAL: Coding for the future
>
> Long ago in a galaxy far away, they handed each of us a stack of manuals and
> told use that we were all enrolled in a 7070 class and had to read all of the
> manuals before the class started. It turned out that some of the students
> were answering questions that stumped the instructor, and that if you read
> the manuals you didn't need the course.
>
> The worst are the ones that score based on the quantity of comments instead
> of their quality. That guaranties cluttered and unhelpful comments. People
> will behave in such a fashion as to optimize how their organization ranks
> them; if teir grades or performance reviews depend on doing something
> sub-optimal, then that's what they'll do. Measure the things that actually
> matter.
>
> I generally frown on marking students down on stylistic issues like
> labels on separate lines, but I will mark down for
>
> LA R7,5 Put 5 in register 7
>
> Don't tell me what LA does, tell me why you're putting that value in that
> register. If there is nothing useful to say in the comment, then omit it.
>
>
> --
> Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz
> https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fmason
> .gmu.edu%2F~smetz3&data=04%7C01%7Cthomas.savor%40fisglobal.com%7Cb
> e99c6f1bde54085afe408d930df9961%7Ce3ff91d834c84b15a0b418910a6ac575%7C0
> %7C0%7C637594559179362403%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAi
> LCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=kaKOh2
> 8RkIFxgof3dWR3QMgfWMAyZeQ8ijJ7XLqXpXE%3D&reserved=0
>
> ________________________________________
> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] on
> behalf of Phil Smith III [li...@akphs.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 11:17 AM
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: EXTERNAL: Coding for the future
>
> Crawford, Robert C. wrote, in part:
>
> >Oh, and I used to this:
>
> >LOOP MVC HERE,THERE
>
>
>
> >And now do this:
>
> >LOOP DS 0H
>
> > MVC HERE,THERE
>
>
>
> Yes, I was taught that early. Then I took a Commodore SuperPet
> assembler class (after writing 370 assembler for several years). That
> assembler had no
>
> DS 0H
> but it did have
> EQU *
> So I used that-and was marked down for it. At that point, I stopped taking
> the class seriously.
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