wish: Val(string)

[nfordbscndrd]

I would like to be able to use i=Val(string) instead of

   If IsNumber(string) Then
      i = string
   Else
      i = 0
   End If

 

[Erel]

I don't think that returning 0 for a bad formatted string is a good idea.
Throwing an exception is much safer.

If you do need such a function you can always implement it as a sub.

 

[nfordbscndrd]

I don't think that returning 0 for a bad formatted string is a good idea.
Throwing an exception is much safer.

I guess that Microsoft disagrees, since VAL("") and VAL("a") both return 0 in Visual Basic. Meanwhile, division by zero causes an error in Visual Basic while it doesn't in B4A. In fact, instead of throwing an exception, division by zero in B4A returns a result of "2147483647". How is that reasonable and VAL("a")=0 is not when the latter result is actually correct?

If you do need such a function you can always implement it as a sub.

I was always told that calling a sub takes more processing time, especially when it involves several lines of code compared to an internal function.

 

[Erel]

Meanwhile, division by zero causes an error in Visual Basic while it doesn't in B4A. In fact, instead of throwing an exception, division by zero in B4A returns a result of "2147483647". How is that reasonable and VAL("a")=0 is not when the latter result is actually correct?

Actually it was better if Basic4android threw an error for division by zero as well. However this is not possible without adding a check for each division which will hurt the performance.

I was always told that calling a sub takes more processing time, especially when it involves several lines of code compared to an internal function.

There is no difference between calling an internal keyword and calling a Sub. Both are Java methods. The JVM can inline simple methods which again is relevant for both internal keywords and Subs.

 

[nfordbscndrd]

There is no difference between calling an internal keyword and calling a Sub. Both are Java methods. The JVM can inline simple methods which again is relevant for both internal keywords and Subs.

I had been wondering about that. It's good to know.