4 ms·

Sure, but we're talking about testing ability vs. memory - switch is incidental.

• ntoshev 18y ago
  Ability requires memory, at least for basic things. You can't be a good programmer and forget the syntax of the language you are working in. If you need to look up something as fundamental as switch statement in the internet, it's like a writer looking up words in the dictionary before writing them down in his novel.
  • jcromartie 18y ago
    I think switch is a particularly bad example here. Honestly, I can't (accurately) tell you the last time I used one. It's not an every-day construct for a lot of people.
    • eru 18y ago
      Neither Python nor Haskell have it - as far as I know. Perhaps you can create one out of monads though.
      • lsb 18y ago
        Actually, case is built into Haskell: it's the evaluation primitive in Haskell Core; see Don Stewart's blog post http://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~dons/blog/2008/05/16 http://cgi.cse.unsw.edu.au/~dons/blog/2008/05/16 .
        • eru 18y ago
          Yes, there it is. Sorry, I did not research my claim. Actually pattern matching can also be described as something like a case-switch.
  • jonknee 18y ago
    Writers very frequently use the dictionary. There is no problem with it, that's why we have dictionaries.
    • eru 18y ago
      Not for scrabble disputes?