Forward Question

[DeSnob]

I've seen things like

Procedure TickleMyPickle; Forward;

What is the forward used for?

[nielsie95]

It means that the function is declared somewhere further down the script. Normally you can only use functions that are above the current function, but sometimes you need one that's below it.

program New;

procedure test;
begin
  test2;
end;

procedure test2;
begin
  WriteLn('hoi');
end;

begin
  test;
end.

Doesn't work, because test2 is beneath test.

program New;

procedure test2; forward;

procedure test;
begin
  test2;
end;

procedure test2;
begin
  WriteLn('hoi');
end;

begin
  test;
end.

works

[Dgby714]

Example...

porgram ForwardExample;

function Num3: string; forward;

procedure Num1;
begin
  WriteLn(Num3);
end;

function Num2: string;
begin
  Result := 'Boo!...';
end;

function Num3: string;
begin
  Result := Num2;
end;

[DeSnob]

Thanks! I just found out that'll be extremely useful in my script!

[Dgby714]

Thanks! I just found out that'll be extremely useful in my script!

Its good practice not to use it =) most of the time you can just rearrange procedures

[Frement]

Its good practice not to use it =) most of the time you can just rearrange procedures

Whats the downside of using it?

[nielsie95]

Increase of compiling time and it can be annoying to maintain both of the declarations, but it's not that bad to use it