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Talk:Longest string challenge: Difference between revisions
→Icon uses boolean datatypes
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The language of the task is very loose and seems to be set up to dazzle students unwilling to argue a point when learning a new language. --[[User:Paddy3118|Paddy3118]] 19:32, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
:: Icon success/failure is more like exception than data, in that they implicitly propagate outwards. In any event, some boolean stuff has to be there, because eventually one has to answer "is this longer than before". I think the goal is to avoid ''explicitly'' storing anything into a variable other than ints and strings, or ''explicitly'' doing math. It's gimmicky for sure, but it could be fun. --[[User:Ledrug|Ledrug]] 20:09, 13 August 2011 (UTC)
::: I'm not sure about ''explicitly'' storing, but the spirit of the task *is* to avoid ''explicit'' math and comparisons. In particular, avoiding explicit less/greater comparisons. --[[User:Dgamey|Dgamey]] 05:19, 14 August 2011 (UTC)
:: Icon has no boolean type. Expressions succeed (returning a value) or fails and do not. It's a form of short circuit evaluation. For example, it is not possible in Icon to run out of bounds of a list, string, etc. as doing so fails. 'move(1)' returns the next character in the string being scanned or fails if there is none. --[[User:Dgamey|Dgamey]] 05:19, 14 August 2011 (UTC)
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