There was a time when Foxbase+ was out that many endusers were writing simple programs. Some eventually became developers and either took formal training or learned on their own. During that time, there was a much greater possibility of the type of code mentioned below being used. Now it is seldom seen at all and rightly so. Of course this means that in most cases code out there is more likely written responsibly but it also means that Foxpro is no longer as visible as well.


>Peter,
> I don’t think that defensive programming has anything to do with fear. Its has more to do with professionalism and common sense, not to mention common curiously to the other members of you team or the poor bastard that is going to have to follow behind you. What you are advocating is just plain old sloppy and lazy. I’ve programmed in FoxPro and VB since the 80’s and .Net since its release. Only FoxPro would even give the developer the option to code in the completely haphazard fashion you show in your example. Every developed that I’ve worked with that has any degree of experience would have the good sense to at lease implement some level of defensive measures in almost all situations.
> You are coining the phrase “Thundering Train” here are some alternative names you should consider for your technique.
>
>1) “How cares code”
>2) “Imminent disaster”
>3) “The Thundering Grenade Technique”
>4) “I hope the check clears before it blows up code”
>5) “Its not my problem”
> I think you should share your unique approach with every client you have and bring examples to every position you ever interview for. I’m sure someone out there could use the work.