Re: Side effects and large-scale conversion

[s.rahtz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Sebastian Rahtz)]

 > Has anyone ever used DSSSL for large-scale conversion (1000s of pages) --
 > doubtful -- and if so, did the prohibition of side effects get in the way? 
 > Why or why not?

What does *size* have to do with anything? I could run a DSSSL job to
convert 50000 pages if you like, or 5 pages 1000 times a day, without
any need of side effects. Nor is it necessarily complexity - you can
perform very complex conversions with DSSSL.  Granted, there may be
specifications for a job which DSSSL can't meet without dealing in
side effects, but thats to do with the specification.

I'd say your email correspondent was just talking hot air, and hasn't
really thought about it - its just a crude gut reaction to say `I wont
program with side effects and gotos'. About as rational as saying `I
cannot write programs unless I eat meat every day'.

Sebastian


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