[Oberon] SYSTEM Modules

[Jörg Straube]

I fully understand both sides of the medal:
- SYSTEM as marker that this module is not portable
- SYSTEM as being cumbersome if you have a lot of those.

Personally, I use IMPORT S:= SYSTEM as kind of compromise. You see the low level nature by IMPORTING it and in addition restrict the typing overhead to the minimum under the current syntax.

Jörg

> Am 10.11.2018 um 12:32 schrieb Paul Reed <paulreed at paddedcell.com>:
> 
> Hi Chris,
> 
>> I've ... been finding the numerous references to SYSTEM are
>> interfering with ... readability. In an extreme case I have a module
>> consisting of 45 statements which has 42 occurrences of the word SYSTEM!
>> The
>> next worst has 36 occurrences of SYSTEM in 47 statements. Consequently I'm
>> investigating if there is a better way of doing this.
> 
> I thought as a halfway-house and keeping with the spirit of the language
> you might use WITH SYSTEM DO... but based on experience with Delphi I'm
> not overly enamoured with WITH anyway, I wrote about that before.
> 
> Given that you are losing a lot of safety when using SYSTEM anyway, I'm
> wondering if removing the requirement for SYSTEM is a step in the wrong
> direction.  I'd like to see some of the code you think has readability
> problems, bearing in mind that readability is in the eye of the beholder.
> :)
> 
> Seriously of course, it's readability and comprehensibility to the *next*
> programmer (e.g. the one who tries to change it) which typically matters. 
> Maybe SYSTEM. ain't that bad.  I think in these days of entire function
> prototypes not even fitting in Intellisense popups, we might want to have
> some perspective here... :)
> 
> Cheers,
> Paul
> 
> 
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