The assignment a += 5;
in C is an expression, too (and may be assigned to other variables
and used, whereever expressions are allowed in C).
But it is no problem to take this kind of syntax over to PL/1,
WITHOUT assigning a value to the assignment A += 5;
(that is: without violating the language).
Has PL/I no operators which modify their operands?
I don't think so; if you leave aside function calls etc,
then in an assigment I think only the variables of the left side change;
never anything from the right side (of course, if the variables of the
left side don't appear on the right side, too).
There are not many operators in PL/1, BTW ...
compared to C, for example. We have three logical operators,
but in C, there are bit operators, too, and shift operators etc.,
and (I guess) 15 levels of operator precedence. In PL/1, three or four ??
But anyway: C is a very small language, and you do best, if you don't play
around with those strange operator properties. I use parantheses, whenever
I'm not sure about the operator precedence. And: I use the side effects of
a++ etc. very carefully. Readability and maintainability (does that word
exist?)
of the code is a very important goal.
The power of PL/1 doesn't rely on many operators, but on other concepts of
the language.
Kind regards
Bernd
----------------------------------------------------------------------
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
