Thanks Renaud,
<Renaud>
MultiplyBlocks: func [
Block1 Block2
/local sum
][
sum: 0
repeat i min length? Block1 length? Block2 [
sum: sum + (Block1/:i * Block2/:i)
]
return sum
]
</Renaud>
What was missing from my knowledge was how to reference a block using a
variable (pardon my non-Rebol terminology) ..... When I'd tried things like
Block1/Ind I got told that was a bad path. Your little colon makes all the
difference.
<Renaud>
Note that you don't need to explicitly use RETURN in your functions, since
the last value of the affectation is still available when Rebol exits the
loop.
</Renaud>
True for MultiplyBlocks1. But MultiplyBlocks2 does need an explicit return,
at least on my machine. And, maybe it's a matter of style, but I'd rather
have an explicit return: it helps a stranger's eye when looking at code. It
also means I can add debugging code without breaking assumptions.
<Renaud>
It's also interesting to notice the relative speed of each
function (multiply 2 blocks of 15 integers):
<snip>
</Renaud>
I've changed my code to your "block/:i" format. It knocks 15% of the
application run time. A worthwhile improvement indeed.
<Brett>
Next option would be to use Ladislav's %highfun.r script
(http://www.rebol.org/advanced/index.html). There you will find functions
that will make this work more elegant, or a technique to make the functions
I've shown more generic.
</Brett>
Thanks for this reference. I certainly don't want to spend my life
reinventing the wheel, and especially not clunky wheels
<Michael>
To write the most compact piece of code for performing this task one could
split some hairs and chop out a few chars here and there, but that does not
necessarily make it more readable/maintainable or better.
</Michael>
I wasn't trying to write the shortest possible code. But I like to think that
I write code that is easy to follow. Which is why the PICKs and FIRSTs in my
two samples niggled. They cluttered a function that ought to be simple. Call
it programmer's intuition, but I knew there must be a better way. But my
RTFMing skills had failed to find it.
Thanks for all the help guys. I think I am beginning to get the hang of this
language!
Colin
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