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From: minow@decvax.UUCP (Martin Minow)
Newsgroups: net.lang
Subject: Re: Superstition in Programmers
Message-ID: <322@decvax.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 1-Jan-84 17:00:10 EST
Article-I.D.: decvax.322
Posted: Sun Jan  1 17:00:10 1984
Date-Received: Mon, 2-Jan-84 02:25:32 EST
References: <348@abnjh.UUCP>
Organization: DEC UNIX Engineering Group
Lines: 24

My favorite superstition (in my own programming) is to never
use an equality test where a magnitude test could be used.
For example:

	something(count)
	int	count;
	{
		while (count > 0) {
		    stuff(count);
		    count--;
		}
	}

rather than

		while (count != 0) {

This habit -- don't trust the accuracy of the computer -- was
probably instilled in me in my first programming course, which
used Illiac 1.

Martin Minow
decvax!minow