• Derek Parnell (22/22) Aug 09 2004 Hi,
• Andy Friesen (11/38) Aug 09 2004 I prefer for local variables to exist only where they are used, so it's

Derek Parnell <derek psych.ward> writes:

Hi,
I'm having a bit of a discussion with some colleagues about assignments.
I'm trying to come up with a example (or two) in which the use of an
assignment expression as an RValue is the only (best?) way to do it.

  eg..
   someOperation(X = SomeExpression);

So far, it seems that one can always do ...

   X = SomeExpression;
   someOperation(X);

and a half decent optimizer will generate the same code.

Even ... 

   A = B = C = D;

can be expressed as ...

   C = D;
   B = D;
   A = D;

So can anyone help me with an example, or is such a beastie just a syntax
shorthand?


-- 
Derek
Melbourne, Australia
10/Aug/04 1:57:47 PM

Andy Friesen <andy ikagames.com> writes:

Derek Parnell wrote:
 Hi,
 I'm having a bit of a discussion with some colleagues about assignments.
 I'm trying to come up with a example (or two) in which the use of an
 assignment expression as an RValue is the only (best?) way to do it.
 
   eg..
    someOperation(X = SomeExpression);
 
 So far, it seems that one can always do ...
 
    X = SomeExpression;
    someOperation(X);
 
 and a half decent optimizer will generate the same code.
 
 Even ... 
 
    A = B = C = D;
 
 can be expressed as ...
 
    C = D;
    B = D;
    A = D;
 
 So can anyone help me with an example, or is such a beastie just a syntax
 shorthand?

I prefer for local variables to exist only where they are used, so it's 
useful to be able to write something like this:

     if (DerivedClass* derivedPtr = dynamic_cast<DerivedClass>(some_base)) {
         ...
     }

The local 'derivedPtr' exists only within the if block, where it belongs.

The only other way to do this is to create a naked block just for the if 
statement.  It works, but it's much uglier looking and involves another 
level of nesting. (opinions may vary)

  -- andy