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emulating_20the_20c_20assignment_20function [2018/03/31 13:19] – external edit 127.0.0.1emulating_20the_20c_20assignment_20function [2024/01/05 00:22] (current) – external edit 127.0.0.1
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 //by Richard Russell, July 2009//\\ \\  In the **C** programming language, an //assignment// operation such as:\\ \\  //by Richard Russell, July 2009//\\ \\  In the **C** programming language, an //assignment// operation such as:\\ \\ 
 +<code c>
         variable = expression         variable = expression
 +</code>
 can be used either as a //statement// or as a //function//. When used as a function, it returns the new value of the variable. Whilst at first sight this might not seem very useful, it is particularly convenient in the case of a **while** loop, for example:\\ \\  can be used either as a //statement// or as a //function//. When used as a function, it returns the new value of the variable. Whilst at first sight this might not seem very useful, it is particularly convenient in the case of a **while** loop, for example:\\ \\ 
 +<code c>
         while (variable = expression)         while (variable = expression)
           {           {
             // Do something useful here             // Do something useful here
           }           }
 +</code>
 Here **variable** is set equal to the value of **expression** and if its new value is //non-zero// the body of the loop is executed (note that it is //not// testing whether **variable** is equal to **expression**; in **C** you do that using the == operator).\\ \\  Since in BBC BASIC an assignment is a //statement//, you can't straightforwardly do this, and you have to code it as follows:\\ \\  Here **variable** is set equal to the value of **expression** and if its new value is //non-zero// the body of the loop is executed (note that it is //not// testing whether **variable** is equal to **expression**; in **C** you do that using the == operator).\\ \\  Since in BBC BASIC an assignment is a //statement//, you can't straightforwardly do this, and you have to code it as follows:\\ \\ 
 +<code bb4w>
         variable = expression         variable = expression
         WHILE variable         WHILE variable
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           variable = expression           variable = expression
         ENDWHILE         ENDWHILE
 +</code>
 As you can see, this involves writing the assignment statement **twice**, once outside the loop and again inside the loop. This is inelegant and potentially error-prone, for example you might make a change to one of the assignments but forget to change the other.\\ \\  To emulate the **C** behaviour you can utilise this simple function:\\ \\  As you can see, this involves writing the assignment statement **twice**, once outside the loop and again inside the loop. This is inelegant and potentially error-prone, for example you might make a change to one of the assignments but forget to change the other.\\ \\  To emulate the **C** behaviour you can utilise this simple function:\\ \\ 
 +<code bb4w>
         DEF FNassign(RETURN variable, expression)         DEF FNassign(RETURN variable, expression)
         variable = expression         variable = expression
         = variable         = variable
 +</code>
 Now you can write the loop as follows:\\ \\  Now you can write the loop as follows:\\ \\ 
 +<code bb4w>
         WHILE FNassign(variable, expression)         WHILE FNassign(variable, expression)
           REM Do something useful here           REM Do something useful here
         ENDWHILE         ENDWHILE
 +</code>
 Note that since **variant** numeric variables are used in the function (i.e. without a 'type' suffix character) it will work equally well with **integer** variables and values as with **floating-point** variables. Note that since **variant** numeric variables are used in the function (i.e. without a 'type' suffix character) it will work equally well with **integer** variables and values as with **floating-point** variables.
emulating_20the_20c_20assignment_20function.1522502358.txt.gz · Last modified: 2024/01/05 00:18 (external edit)