Complexity of reallocating storage (was users command crap)

[Rahul Dhesi]

In <5883:Feb102:05:4991 at kramden.acf.nyu.edu>
brnstnd at kramden.acf.nyu.edu (Dan Bernstein) writes:

>Tradeoffs between ``multiple passes'' and ``single pass'' are entirely
>irrelevant when they aren't reflected in speed, space, or human effort.

It's often easier to adapt a single-pass program to handle
previously-unforeseen needs than to similarly adapt a multipass
program.  A good example is what happens if you decide later that you
would like to handle standard input.  Now if you have a multipass
implementation, you either have to completely redo it, or use a
possibly huge temp file, or do buffering in blocks which may involve a
heavy penalty in speed and memory usage.
--
Rahul Dhesi <dhesi%cirrusl at oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com>
UUCP:  oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi