Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-24 Thread Seymour J Metz
://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Jon Perryman Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 5:02 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-24 Thread Seymour J Metz
-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On 23/04/2024 12:01 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: > delete foo > > rather than > > 'DELETE' foo > > is a simple example. In practise I often need multiple

Re: Commands via Rexx (Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-23 Thread Jeremy Nicoll
On Tue, 23 Apr 2024, at 11:25, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: > The nice thing is that Rexx allows different variants of string > concatenations and one is free to use what seems to be the > "easiest", the "safest". Personally I use blank concatenations > by default and abuttal or || only if there

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-23 Thread Eric Rossman
0 seconds and completed 41597318 iterations. Eric Rossman -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Tuesday, April 23, 2024 10:42 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and sc

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-23 Thread Robin Vowels
On 2024-04-24 00:41, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:07:05 +, Schmitt, Michael wrote: Be sparse and elegant but not rococo. I prefer: 'A' B to (the equivalent): 'A ' || B The latter seems to cater to the expectations of PL/I or some other language. Catenation with

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-23 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 14:07:05 +, Schmitt, Michael wrote: >You lost me when you say that rather than embrace the conventions, standards, >and features of the language I'm coding in (REXX), I should restrict it to the >limitations of other languages. > Did I say that? I was trying to take a

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-23 Thread Schmitt, Michael
in, and would expect your code to follow those conventions. It would /defy/ their expectations to code otherwise. -Original Message- From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 8:56 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages

Commands via Rexx (Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-23 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 23.04.2024 05:03, Andrew Rowley wrote: On 23/04/2024 11:55 am, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:59:47 +1000, Andrew Rowley  wrote:     ... To me, it is much clearer to be explicit, including the concatenation, e.g. "DELETE " || foo That overkill is apt to confuse a POSIX shell

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 23/04/2024 11:55 am, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:59:47 +1000, Andrew Rowley wrote: ... To me, it is much clearer to be explicit, including the concatenation, e.g. "DELETE " || foo That overkill is apt to confuse a POSIX shell partisan who would see the blank as part of

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 10:59:47 +1000, Andrew Rowley wrote: >... >To me, it is much clearer to be explicit, including the concatenation, e.g. >"DELETE " || foo >seems much clearer about exactly what is happening/expected, which are >variables and which are (expected to be) constant etc. > That

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 23/04/2024 12:01 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: delete foo rather than 'DELETE' foo is a simple example. In practise I often need multiple upper case constants in a single expression. In this example, delete *looks like* an instruction rather than a variable - the fact that it is a variable

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Jon Perryman
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 18:14:50 +, Farley, Peter wrote: >From the testing I have done so far, > My suspicion (untested) is that the Rexx script itself is automagically > converted to EBCDIC as the interpreter > is reading it, so that the interpreter only sees EBCDIC text. Default REXX input

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Jon Perryman
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:01:23 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >delete foo >rather than >'DELETE' foo >is a simple example. In practise I often need multiple upper case constants in >a single expression. This isn't a valid example because 'delete' will also work. As Andrew said, rarely will you

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Farley, Peter
” system I would expect ASCII hex output for that example. Peter From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Paul Gilmartin Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 1:48 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:59:21 +

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Seymour J Metz
: Monday, April 22, 2024 1:45 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 01:41:21 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >I was referring to 'I once found CMS ISPF to reauire "address isredit

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:59:21 +, Farley, Peter wrote: > >I have recently done some experiments with Rexx scripts stored in the z/OS >Unix file system encoded in ASCII and they will execute without a problem so >long as the starting script file is properly ... > FSVO "properly". What does

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Jon Perryman
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 01:41:21 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >I was referring to 'I once found CMS ISPF to reauire "address isredit 'isredit >'". >Otherwise the command went to ISPEXEC.', which clearly is b0rk3n. This seems very unlikely given that IBM does good QA and this would have caused a

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Jeremy Nicoll
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024, at 04:58, Steve Thompson wrote: > And so, with Windows I/O is different (still talking REXX), same > problem with Linux. I/O is not handled the same for simple reads > and writes from my perspective. There's an EXECIO in ooREXX now, provided by the address hostemu

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 16:59:21 +, Farley, Peter wrote: >Practically speaking however, starting a Rexx script under one of the z/OS >Unix shell programs is pretty much the only way to get it done. Although if >you use the BPXWUNIX() function from a TSO Rexx script to start another Rexx

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 11:40:33 -0500, Jon Perryman wrote: > >I've never tried it but a shell should not be required to automatically >integrate REXX & UNIX as long as you start REXX using z/OS Unix facilities in >a Unix address space. Technically, shells are not required by Unix but I doubt >that

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Farley, Peter
z/OS Unix shell do have to be encoded in EBCDIC though. Peter From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List On Behalf Of Jon Perryman Sent: Monday, April 22, 2024 12:41 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 22:54:15 +

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-22 Thread Jon Perryman
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 22:54:15 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >>Wait, what? Are you saying TSO-REXXhaas LINEIN, CHAROUT and so on? >Only in a EUnix environment. I don't know if syscalls is enough or if you >actually have t be running under the shell. Syscalls does not setup a full z/OS Unix

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-22 Thread Seymour J Metz
: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Andrew Rowley Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 10:00 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On 22/04/2024 10:09 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: > It shortens expressi

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 22/04/2024 10:09 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: It shortens expressions, upper cases automatically and, IMHO, is more readable. Was that a reply about the usefulness of the default value being the variable name, uppercase? If so, I still don't see it. Can you give an example of how you would

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Bob Bridges
Oh, Unix. Sorry, you did say "OMVS", I just didn't pay attention. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* The sad thing for us rationalists is that the vast majority of the human race would rather be told that "two and two is five and make no mistake about it" than "I

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
gt; Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 8:48 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 23:02:56 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >Unclean! Did you report it as a bug? > I suspect it's WAD (BAD!) o LEAV

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 23:02:56 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >Unclean! Did you report it as a bug? > I suspect it's WAD (BAD!) o LEAVE as the target of an assignment is a variable name. o Otherwise, LEAVE as the first token of an instruction is a keywod (LEAVE NAME) o Otherwise, LEAVE is a symbol

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 7:03 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On 22/04/2024 1:19 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: > 2. There is a decades-long argument about NOVALUE. I am in the c

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 22/04/2024 1:19 am, Seymour J Metz wrote: 2. There is a decades-long argument about NOVALUE. I am in the camp that believes the default behavior to be too useful to give up; others believe that it is dangerous. Genuine curiosity: what is the use of the default behaviour? I have

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
equ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 11:50 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:19:40 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >A few comments. > > 1. It's best to avoid

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Robin Vowels <054c2a8bb600-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 11:52 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages On 2024-04-22 00:05, Seymour J Metz wrote: > While PL/I has no

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
Discussion List on behalf of Bob Bridges <0587168ababf-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 2:54 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness Wait, what? Are you saying TSO-REXX has LINEIN, CHAROUT and so on? ...Althoug

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
on behalf of Robert Prins <05be6ef5bfea-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 4:17 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question Try the two characters that are pretty much unique t

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Steve Thompson
I am looking at going OOREXX or NETREXX to make interfacing easier. I'm still researching how to proceed in the best way. I have Regina Rexx on both W11 and Suse LEAP 15.x I've been struggling with I/O because I'm too used to DSN type file systems as opposed to char streams. So I have to

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:54:33 -0400, Bob Bridges wrote: >Wait, what? Are you saying TSO-REXX has LINEIN, CHAROUT and so on? > Not exactly: >...Although I do think EXECIO is nicely flexible. Still, I find myself >looking up the

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Bob Bridges
Wait, what? Are you saying TSO-REXX has LINEIN, CHAROUT and so on? ...Although I do think EXECIO is nicely flexible. Still, I find myself looking up the syntax occasionally when doing something unusual. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* [Hitler] has grasped the

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Bob Bridges
Long before I started using ooRexx, before I even knew it existed in fact, I talked my boss at one company into letting me install a copy of Regina on my company workstation in order to save him some work. It turned out to be an interesting project. Apparently until then someone would

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Robin Vowels
On 2024-04-22 02:13, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 01:52:14 +1000, Robin Vowels wrote:o ... One would not use as variable such common keywords as mentioned above. The real advantage is that one doesn't need to keep in mind all those uncommonly-used words that might be used as

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 01:52:14 +1000, Robin Vowels wrote:o >... >One would not use as variable such common keywords as mentioned above. > >The real advantage is that one doesn't need to keep in mind >all those uncommonly-used words that might be used as variable names, > somewhat the opposite.

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Robin Vowels
On 2024-04-22 00:05, Seymour J Metz wrote: While PL/I has no reserved words, it is considered bad form to use a keyword as an entry or variable name. The same principle applies to Rexx; using, e.g., DO, ELSE, END, EXIT, IF, ITERATE, OTHERWISE, PROCEDURE, THEN, WHEN, as a variable name can make

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 15:19:40 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >A few comments. > > 1. It's best to avoid names that a,e, or are similar to, keywords. > Astonishment factor with such as "LEAVE = 'date'; LEAVE". No Rexx syntax error, but unexpected result. > 2. There is a decades-long argument about

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Rony G. Flatscher Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 1:50 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On 20.04.2024 17:40, Paul Gilmartin wrote

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 14:40:26 +, Seymour J Metz wrote: >Given that REXX in an OMVS environment supports ANSI stream I/O, why use >EXECIO? > OMVS stream I/O doesn't support CKD /PO/PS data sets. What about DSFS? Does the DSFS User's Guide mention any restrictions with Rexx stream I/O? --

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Steve Thompson Sent: Saturday, April 20, 2024 11:58 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness I concur about REXX EXECIO I/O is not exactly intuitive. REXX, first implemented in CMS used the CMS

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
on behalf of Bruce Hewson <0499d3d5e892-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 12:58 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question Hello Bob, I use "cnt" for my loop cou

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
Gilmartin <042bfe9c879d-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2024 1:11 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 23:58:18 -0400, Steve Thompson wrote: >I concur about REXX EXECIO I/O is not exactly

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Seymour J Metz
M-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages On 2024-04-21 04:22, Paul Gilmartin wrote: > On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:50:56 +0200, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: >>... >> There are *no* reserved words in Rexx like in many other languages. >> (This alleviates one to hav

Re: REXX vs other languages

2024-04-21 Thread Robin Vowels
On 2024-04-21 04:22, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:50:56 +0200, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: ... There are *no* reserved words in Rexx like in many other languages. (This alleviates one to have to learn them by heart. But more importantly, should the language get additional

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-21 Thread Robin Vowels
On 2024-04-21 15:38, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 23:58:18 -0500, Bruce Hewson wrote: I use "cnt" for my loop counters. I stopped using FORTRAN style single character variable names when I started coding in REXX. I thought FORTRAN allowed six. It did. Now it allows many

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 23:58:18 -0500, Bruce Hewson wrote: > >I use "cnt" for my loop counters. I stopped using FORTRAN style single >character variable names when I started coding in REXX. > I thought FORTRAN allowed six. (Be careful how you pronounce that!) -- gil

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-20 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 23:58:18 -0400, Steve Thompson wrote: >I concur about REXX EXECIO I/O is not exactly intuitive. > >REXX, first implemented in CMS used the CMS I/O utilities >Over in TSO they created EXECIO which does not operate in the >same way as does the CMS EXECIO. And it causes me

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Bruce Hewson
Hello Bob, I use "cnt" for my loop counters. I stopped using FORTRAN style single character variable names when I started coding in REXX. Except I do use them on occasion for building large stem variable lists. example:- i=i+1;jcl.i="//BRUCESMP JOB (1234546),'Bruce SMP jobn',"

Re: REXX vs other languages -- EXECIO intuitiveness

2024-04-20 Thread Steve Thompson
I concur about REXX EXECIO I/O is not exactly intuitive. REXX, first implemented in CMS used the CMS I/O utilities Over in TSO they created EXECIO which does not operate in the same way as does the CMS EXECIO. And it causes me headaches when I work on CMS for a year or two and then come

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Bob Bridges
Well, they may not be reserved, if you say so. But I think I'd be a fool to try using "is", "if" or "in" as a loop counter, certainly for the sake of the programmer who inherits my work but I'm sure it would confuse me too. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* When a

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Bob Bridges
I've inherited a REXX app from a departed coworker who uses (for example) 'complete?' as a Boolean variable name, where in REXX I would use 'fcomplete' for the same purpose ('f' for "flag"). I see the sense of the question mark, but I've been coding too many decades; I can't FEEL it. I

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Bob Bridges
Ooh, I'm sure I've read that I can do that but I forgot. I like that - think I'll start doing it myself. Normally I'm rabid about indentation, but occasionally in a longer program I lose track of something and have to spend a of time searching for where I left out an End. --- Bob Bridges,

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 19:50:56 +0200, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: >... >There are *no* reserved words in Rexx like in many other languages. (This >alleviates one to have to >learn them by heart. But more importantly, should the language get additional >keywords over time > I disagree. Although

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 20.04.2024 19:52, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 20:17:36 +, Robert Prins wrote: Try the two characters that are pretty much unique to REXX, "!" and "?" especially for small local loops. Ugh! But I confess I've done likewise at times. I tried to refresh my memory and

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 20:17:36 +, Robert Prins wrote: >Try the two characters that are pretty much unique to REXX, "!" and "?" >especially for small local loops. > Ugh! But I confess I've done likewise at times. I tried to refresh my memory and observed that the Rexx Ref., SA32-0972-60, is

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 20.04.2024 17:40, Paul Gilmartin wrote: On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 11:08:03 -0400, Bob Bridges wrote: It was while I was coding in REXX that I tried abutting a variable named 'x' with another string, and couldn't figure out why the program behaved as it did. Eventually figured out I had

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Robert Prins
Try the two characters that are pretty much unique to REXX, "!" and "?" especially for small local loops. Robert -- Robert AH Prins robert(a)prino(d)org The hitchhiking grandfather Some REXX code for use on z/OS

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Paul Gilmartin
On Sat, 20 Apr 2024 11:08:03 -0400, Bob Bridges wrote: >It was while I was coding in REXX that I tried abutting a variable named 'x' >with another string, and couldn't figure out why the program behaved as it >did. Eventually figured out I had inadvertently created a hex constant. >Maybe as

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-20 Thread Bob Bridges
It was while I was coding in REXX that I tried abutting a variable named 'x' with another string, and couldn't figure out why the program behaved as it did. Eventually figured out I had inadvertently created a hex constant. Maybe as an overreaction, I have never since used one-character

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 20/04/2024 12:41 am, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: It is an attempt to apply dynamic typing to reduce the need to write the explicit type. This service gets carried out by the compiler. In true dynamically typed languages you can reuse variables like "start" or "tmp" to refer to values of

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 20/04/2024 1:42 am, Jay Maynard wrote: Agreed Java is simply far too complex a language and ecosystem to hold in the mind. Python is as ubiquitous and much easier to deal with. Really? What do you NEED to learn for Java that you don't need to learn for other languages? public static void

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Bob Bridges
Oh, I dunno. Generalizations aren't invalid as long as you don't mistake them for blanket stereotypes, and generalizations are the only possible way to describe general groups. I see no cause for offense here. --- Bob Bridges, robhbrid...@gmail.com, cell 336 382-7313 /* Be kind whenever

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Seymour J Metz
of David Crayford <0595a051454b-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> Sent: Friday, April 19, 2024 11:25 AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question I’m not sure I would use Java as a REXX alternative now we h

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Jay Maynard
Agreed Java is simply far too complex a language and ecosystem to hold in the mind. Python is as ubiquitous and much easier to deal with. On Fri, Apr 19, 2024 at 10:25 AM David Crayford < 0595a051454b-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote: > I’m not sure I would use Java as a REXX alternative

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread David Crayford
I’m not sure I would use Java as a REXX alternative now we have Python. REXX is very much legacy now. The old timers love it because it’s all they know but push come to shove Python is much easier to learn then Java with all the OO cruft. > On 19 Apr 2024, at 7:50 AM, Andrew Rowley > wrote:

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Farley, Peter
AM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question On 18.04.2024 15:14, Bob Bridges wrote: > I don't often admit it, because I expect to get flamed for it, but in fact > when I write in VBA almost all my var

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 19.04.2024 01:50, Andrew Rowley wrote: On 18/04/2024 8:29 pm, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: The mileage of people here vary including the Java people themselves who have started to reduce the need of explicit declarations like the new "var" (imitating JavaScript) instead of strict types or

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-19 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 18.04.2024 15:14, Bob Bridges wrote: I don't often admit it, because I expect to get flamed for it, but in fact when I write in VBA almost all my variables are type VAR - that is, I hardly ever use the Dim statement to assign a type. To introduce an array, sure, or to maintain correct

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-18 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 18/04/2024 8:29 pm, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: The mileage of people here vary including the Java people themselves who have started to reduce the need of explicit declarations like the new "var" (imitating JavaScript) instead of strict types or foregoing the static main method such that one

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-18 Thread Bob Bridges
I don't often admit it, because I expect to get flamed for it, but in fact when I write in VBA almost all my variables are type VAR - that is, I hardly ever use the Dim statement to assign a type. To introduce an array, sure, or to maintain correct spelling in the longer var names. But it's

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-18 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 18.04.2024 02:22, Andrew Rowley wrote: On 18/04/2024 4:39 am, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: As you know already Rexx it would be easy for you to learn about what ooRexx adds to Rexx. ... Notabene: you write one ooRexx program that will be runnable without any changes on Windows, Linux and

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-18 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 17.04.2024 21:04, Bob Bridges wrote: This whole post was fascinating me, partly because I'm still a novice at ooRexx, still wrapping my head around certain concepts (messaging being one example). I may as well say, though, that when I finally broke down and got myself a copy, I then took

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-17 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 18/04/2024 4:39 am, Rony G. Flatscher wrote: As you know already Rexx it would be easy for you to learn about what ooRexx adds to Rexx. ... Notabene: you write one ooRexx program that will be runnable without any changes on Windows, Linux and macOS. This means you develop it e.g. on

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-17 Thread Bob Bridges
This whole post was fascinating me, partly because I'm still a novice at ooRexx, still wrapping my head around certain concepts (messaging being one example). I may as well say, though, that when I finally broke down and got myself a copy, I then took not one hour but two or three days off to

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-17 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 17.04.2024 02:12, Andrew Rowley wrote: On 16/04/2024 3:08 am, Jon Perryman wrote: From a language standpoint, REXX is just another language but it's real strength is it's environment integration. Instead of the caller maintaining libraries, the environment automatically integrates with

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-17 Thread Rony G. Flatscher
On 15.04.2024 19:08, Jon Perryman wrote: Java's not perfect, but it is powerful and it is pretty much universally available on z/OS. People don't understand the ingenuity behind REXX and don't understand the real problems it solves. From a language standpoint, REXX is just another language

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-16 Thread Andrew Rowley
On 16/04/2024 3:08 am, Jon Perryman wrote: From a language standpoint, REXX is just another language but it's real strength is it's environment integration. Instead of the caller maintaining libraries, the environment automatically integrates with REXX. For instance, REXX in the TSO

Re: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-15 Thread Seymour J Metz
://mason.gmu.edu/~smetz3 עַם יִשְׂרָאֵל חַי נֵ֣צַח יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לֹ֥א יְשַׁקֵּ֖ר From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List on behalf of Jon Perryman Sent: Monday, April 15, 2024 1:08 PM To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU Subject: REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits

REXX vs other languages WAS: Rexx numeric digits and scientific notation question

2024-04-15 Thread Jon Perryman
>Java's not perfect, but it is powerful and it is pretty much universally >available on z/OS. People don't understand the ingenuity behind REXX and don't understand the real problems it solves. From a language standpoint, REXX is just another language but it's real strength is it's environment