is it more useful?<br>if I have:<br><br>f(a,Var) -> ok;<br>f(b,Var) -> 10/0;<br>f(c,Var) -> ok.<br><br>and call: f(b,foo)<br><br>The error message would say it failed in "f/2"<br>It doesn't tell me at all which one it actually failed in. Buf for a gen_* you would know since they show the last message in, which usually lines up with a function. But in generic library code, it always seems hard-to-impossible to tell from the stack. I end up adding print statements all over and re-producing to find offending function.<br>
<br>That being said, I actually prefer many little functions anyway as it tends to be easier to read at a glance.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/1/8 Hynek Vychodil <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:vychodil.hynek@gmail.com">vychodil.hynek@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">I can see one subtle difference between mane short functions and less longer. If error occurred, back-trace is more useful for shorter functions. <br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/1/8 Robert Virding <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:rvirding@gmail.com" target="_blank">rvirding@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c">This thread is also a comment to an earlier question by Edward Stow <span><span><<a href="mailto:ed.stow@gmail.com" target="_blank">ed.stow@gmail.com</a>></span></span>.<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">
2009/1/8 Richard Carlsson <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:richardc@it.uu.se" target="_blank">richardc@it.uu.se</a>></span><div><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<br>
In efficiency terms, there is no real difference. (If there is one,<br>
it should be considered a compiler problem that might be corrected<br>
at any time - do not waste your time on such microoptimizations.)<br>
Oh, and 'if' switches are no different - they're really a 'case'.</blockquote></div><div><br>Just to qualify Richard's comment. There is no difference at all, in the compiler function clauses are first transformed into a case. <br>
</div><div><div> </div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">So it's mostly a matter of taste. If your switch makes sense on its<br>
own, i.e., you can give it a reasonably straightforward name, then<br>
by all means break it out as a function - it will make the code<br>
easier to read and make it easier for you to see when there is<br>
common functionality that could be reused rather than copy-pasted.</blockquote></div><div><br>Sometimes I also do the opposite and use function clauses / case as a means of grouping to emphasize a code structure. So while you can write:<br>
<br>foo(a, m, Z) -> ...;<br>foo(a, n, Z) -> ...;<br>foo(a, o, Z) -> ...<br>...<br><br>it might sometimes better clarify your intent to group function clauses and write:<br><br>foo(a, Y, Z) -><br> case Y of<br>
a -> ...;<br> b -> ...;<br> ...<br> end;<br>...<br></div><br></div>As already noted there is no difference in efficiency. This is probably not a PC thought for a functional language I sometimes feel that you can get too of a good thing and have too many small functions and it can make reading the whole more difficult.<br>
<font color="#888888">
<br>Robert<br><br>
</font><br></div></div><div class="Ih2E3d">_______________________________________________<br>
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--Hynek (Pichi) Vychodil<br>
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