Re: The joy of FORTRAN

On 01/10/2024 19:44, rbowman wrote:

On Tue, 1 Oct 2024 00:56:56 -0400, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote:
 

    Technically, I agree. However, as mentioned, PRACTICAL issues
    intervene. Time/MONEY/reliability are also very important. These
    ain't the filthy-rich 60s anymore so if it WORKS you DON'T mess with
    it.

 There comes a point in many projects when you realize that the effort
helped define the criteria and while you have a better understanding of
the problem you really should scrap the code and start over. Time, money,
and ego involvement ensure that seldom happens.

Ive done that several times.
You sketch out something, realise that was partly wrong, or has got messy, or could be done more simply if chunked out to subroutines, and start again using the bits of code that worked.
The cost benefit is against the top down "we will write the whole detailed spec before we write a line of code" idea  that in my experience is actually worse.
In practice I work both ends to the middle. Write what is obvious in spec or code first, and then see what problems remain unsolved.....
--
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
H.L.Mencken