when I was mid-BS (ahem) in CS, I used to write all my
programs "top down"; just create a bunch of function/procedure
names that'd handle the problem and pencil in the loops
(on the backs of output pages, w/ a couple of sheets
for 'global' vars and page for function prototypes, details
to be filled in later). As a mid-level programmer now,
performance is so rarely a concern (what I write runs
less often (e.g. daily) than its worth to squeeze (or 'bum')
any extra speed out of it0) that the value of a clean loop
calling meaingfully named functions outweighs any loss in the
internal context switches etc.
Keeping the flow clean and
localizing the gritty details makes life much easier, and
makes the final program that much more maintainable: its
way easier to rewrite &Get_Image_Path to handle the
addition of a separate image server box than to go back
and find and handle all the spots that were calling
"Get_Image_Path($case_number, $document_number)"
a
