Is that good code?

[Melba23]

This seems to come up pretty regularly. Would it be worth a line in the Help file - "Always enclose the expression in () when using NOT - If NOT($iFred < 9)"?

M23

[Valik]

No, I would argue that you should always write the expression correctly to begin with. If Not ($iFred < 9) is really If $iFred >= 9 which is about 703 times clearer to the reader.

[Richard Robertson]

I'd like to see the equation you used to come up with 703 times the clarity. For educational purposes.

Edited March 8, 2010 by Richard Robertson

[Valik]

Organic random number generator.

[Melba23]

I am just glad Richard came up with the question first!

M23

[Richard Robertson]

You do like those random numbers, don't you.

[Valik]

Maybe.

[czardas]

What, like this?

Func _isOrganic(ByRef $num)
    Local $properties[2]
    $properties[0] = "ganic"
    $properties[1] = "gasmic"
    MsgBox(0, "Numberical Properties", Round($num*0.62) & " is or"& $properties[Random(0,1,1)])
EndFunc

Edited March 9, 2010 by czardas

[Richard Robertson]

Why are you passing $num byref?

[czardas]

Why are you passing $num byref?

I wish I had an answer to that question. (random syntax) Edited March 9, 2010 by czardas

[PhilHibbs]

If've got a question whether this ... If Not $iDimension > 0 Then ...is really good code?

Personally, I've always treated NOT as a function in whatever language I've used, so I would instinctively write that as If Not( $iDimension > 0 ) Then... and so would not have written it this way. So, I agree that it is not really good. That's NOT(really) good, rather than NOT(really good), just to be clear.

[PhilHibbs]

Why are you passing $num byref?

Is it faster to pass large arrays by reference rather than by value?

[JRowe]

Is it faster to pass large arrays by reference rather than by value?

Did you not read the ByRef documentation? (hint: the answers to both questions are the same .)

$mArray = [ONE MILLION ITEMS!]

DoSomethingDumb($mArray)
DoSomethingSmart($mArray)

Func DoSomethingDumb($aArray)
ConsoleWrite($aArray[999123])
EndFunc

Func DoSomethingSmart(ByRef $aArray)
ConsoleWrite($aArray[999123])
EndFunc

One copies the entire array to the local $aArray. The other just uses a reference to the existing array. It's much faster and uses less memory.

Edited March 11, 2010 by JRowe

[Xenobiologist]

Common guys, this shouldn't be a discussion thread for all that stuff.

Three topics are handled here:

1) Not... is that good code? Answered : Yes, I think so.

2) _ArrayUnique performance! Answered : Not completely. FMPOV, there should be a rewrite for better performance in case

a ) to strip down huge arrays

b )dealing with already stripped arrays

3) ByRef or ByValue! Answered : Yes, I think so.

Thanks!

Mega

Edited March 11, 2010 by Xenobiologist

[PhilHibbs]

Did you not read the ByRef documentation?

Well, my answer was mostly rhetorical - Richard asked why the OP was passing an array by reference, I would have thought that the default behaviour should be to always pass arrays by reference unless the function always needs to modify a temporary copy of the array.

[Richard Robertson]

Is it faster to pass large arrays by reference rather than by value?

Yes, except that $num was not an array. :|

[PhilHibbs]

Yes, except that $num was not an array. :|

Er... good point, looks like I mis-read the code quite badly.

[Richard Robertson]

Er... good point, looks like I mis-read the code quite badly.

You can't see it, but I'm seriousfacing at you.

[-Ultima-]

One copies the entire array to the local $aArray. The other just uses a reference to the existing array. It's much faster and uses less memory.

Kind of anyway You'll find that AutoIt uses copy-on-write optimization for arrays, so that unless the array is modified in the the function, the array never actually gets copied. In that case, the performance difference between ByRef and non-ByRef array parameter passing is absolutely negligible. There probably is still a tiny bit of overhead for not passing ByRef to functions that perform read-only operations on the array, but we're talking microseconds/milliseconds even over many iterations.

[JRowe]

Man, just when I think I know something about anything. So an array isn't copied, even if it's not passed ByRef, unless it's manipulated inside a function?