
4 forgotten code constructs: time to revisit the past? - innerspirit
http://chrismm.com/blog/4-forgotten-code-constructs-time-to-revisit-the-past/
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sevensor
This article trolled me so hard that I've deleted three drafts of a response,
each one expressing my astonishment in more colorful terms. Forgotten? The
author cannot possibly be serious. I was hoping for obscurity and I got
banality.

~~~
sevensor
Ok, I recognize I've violated community norms by suggesting that this is a
troll. I retract that. But what possible grounds might somebody have for
saying that recursion is "forgotten". Proof by induction is highschool math --
doesn't the recursive approach naturally suggest itself for a lot of problems?
I write Python all day, so stack frames are pretty expensive and I usually
talk myself out of it.

And goto? "X considered harmful" is a pervasive meme. Does anybody really not
know that X was originally goto?

And eval? Even if your language doesn't support it, surely the idea is
obvious? "Man, I sure could get out of this tight spot if my program could
write another program and evaluate it!"

Am I living under some kind of weird rock, where I find the suggestion that
these are forgotten language constructs deeply disturbing? Come on, internet!
Argue with me! I'm feeling punchy.

~~~
innerspirit
I'm not sure what point you're trying to make, other than some pedantic point
about the title.

> Does anybody really not know that X was originally goto?

The original "goto considered harmful" paper was very much tongue-in-cheek.

