When Peoplebooks Is Not Enough
Archive for the ‘Commands’ Category.
In the ten years that I have been programming in SQR, I’ve found a few cases where the compiler is a bit more limited than the documentation implied. However, I can only think of one example in which SQRW acted in a way that was unambiguously wrong.
Continue reading ‘A Strange SQR Bug’ »
Last year I wrote about the similarity and superiority of the SQR evaluate command compared to the C or Java switch command in SQR Evaluate Versus C/Java Switch, part 1 and part 2. Here is another way to extend evaluate functionality.
Continue reading ‘Evaluate Two Values At Once In SQR’ »
It seems appropriate to talk about masks with Halloween coming. More powerful than trick-or-treat facewear, SQR masks can format numbers, analyze dates, and precisely extract characters from strings. Boo!
Continue reading ‘SQR Masks’ »
The SQR language has several families of built-in functions. They range from minor conveniences to potential life savers. There are some surprising inclusions and surprising omissions. I discuss some of the functions I wish we had in An SQR Wish List.
Elements of Style is the famous book by William Strunk, Jr. and E.B. White. First written in 1918, it is a guide to writing well in American English. Anything good about the prose on this blog should be credited to Strunk & White. The flaws must be ascribed to me. This week’s blog entry is dedicated to that short book.
Continue reading ‘Elements of SQR Style’ »
It’s not New Year’s Eve, but I have some resolutions to use more of the rich features of SQR to write programs that are richly featured themselves.
Continue reading ‘4 SQR Resolutions’ »
I’ve mentioned arrays while writing about other topics. It’s time I write about arrays. Someone could program in SQR for a whole career without ever using them, but that someone would have to work harder to do without these handy data objects. Continue reading ‘Hooray For Arrays.Part(1)’ »
As much as I like SQR, I am reluctantly willing to admit that it is not perfect. Ray Ontko, one of the pioneers of SQR, listed his ideas for improvements on his company’s website. Here’s my wish list. Given the maturity of SQR, I don’t expect any of the changes to occur, but I’ve had many happy daydreams about using these features. Continue reading ‘An SQR Wish List’ »
Numbers are probably the most important scalar objects of business applications, but dates may be a close second. Continue reading ‘SQR Dates’ »
Even the best programmer in my one-person cubicle makes mistakes. I’ve worked in several different languages, and made the same mistakes in many of them; out of bounds array index, dividing by zero, messing with Texas. Continue reading ‘7 Uniquely SQR Bugs’ »