From:	"Judson McClendon" <judmc123 AT bellsouth DOT net>
Newsgroups:	comp.os.msdos.djgpp,alt.comp.lang.learn.c-c++,alt.lang.basic
References:	<8E0A6B90Bjsampsonpostmasterco AT news DOT earthlink DOT net>
Subject:	Re: A small bussiness billing application
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Date:	Thu, 22 Jul 1999 08:43:38 -0500
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To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com
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Reply-To:	djgpp AT delorie DOT com

Joe Sampson wrote:
>
>I have decided to write a program that will help my mom with her
>accounts receivible billing at the end of each month. ...
>
>I will be writing this program in c++ or basic (whichever
>language I can "lift" things out of tutorials better) ...

Any programming tool that does not support scaled decimal variables
is unsuitable for handling money.  Just run this little QBasic or
QuickBasic program that counts from $0.00 to $1.00 by pennies and
see why:

  FOR I = 0 TO 1 STEP .01
     PRINT I;
  NEXT

Writing financial applications in C/C++ is about as smart as writing
a compiler in COBOL.  The vast majority of business applications are
not written in COBOL because business are stupid.  It is because
COBOL is the only language designed specifically from the ground up
to write business applications, and it is still the very best tool
available for writing core financial applications.  PL/I took many
of COBOL's features, but it is a huge language to learn, where COBOL
is simple.  I've written in many languages including C/C++ and a lot
of BASIC (since 1975), but they are both poor choices for financial
applications.  If your BASIC supports scaled decimal variables, such
as PDS 7.1 or VB 6, but NOT QBasic or QuickBasic 4.5, then it might
be suitable.  PDS 7.1, for example, only provides for 4 decimal
places in its CURRENCY type.  This is fine for money amounts, but
insufficient for many things, such as monthly or daily interest
rates, or for pricing certain items.  VB 5/6 support a DECIMAL type
that is okay.  Money is accounted in decimal arithmetic, and no
auditor is happy when confronted with rounding errors caused by
internal binary/decimal conversions.

Don't screw around were money or lives are concerned, and use a tool
well suited to the task.
--
Judson McClendon      judmc123 AT bellsouth DOT net  (remove numbers)
Sun Valley Systems    http://personal.bhm.bellsouth.net/~judmc
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

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