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From: Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: The joy of FORTRAN
Date: Sat, 28 Sep 2024 10:29:04 -0700
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Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> wrote:
> On 2024-09-27, Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:
> 
>> On Thu, 26 Sep 2024 17:52:04 -0700, Peter Flass wrote:
>> 
>>> Another thing PL/I got from COBOL is “natural” string handling. Assign a
>>> short string to a larger any the result is automatically blank-padded.
>> 
>> That kind of misfeature is only needed in the sad world of non-dynamic, 
>> fixed-length strings ...
> 
> Which for many of us was the only world that existed at the time.
> 

I think still does. You wouldn’t want to print too long a name on a check,
for instance, just because your system allows it and some literal clerk
just types in what they see.

-- 
Pete