WOW, this is very surprising. Nobody uses Includes???

I can't imagine NOT using them.

Reasons for my thinking. :

-- Version Control -- Back when I wasn't using Includes, I'd have the same routine Cut&Pasted into several different programs. While working on one of them I'd have a brainstorm and figure out a better way to do it. Now all the other programs are either stuck with the old version, or I'd have to go back through every program I've written in the past to update their in-line code. Ugg.

-- Thought Grouping -- As in Melanie's modularized list, Typically any variables, aliases etc. will be placed at the top of the program. But more than likely, the routines in question will be buried deep in the middle of the program, completely isolated from all the other things that go with it. By using Include files, you can keep things grouped together so that you always know what variables or other subroutines are needed to be able to use the said routine.

-- Ease of use -- If I need an interrupt driven clock or a buffered UART routine. All I need to do is type in 1 or 2 lines. No cut&paste, no variable searching, nothing. Just boom, there it is.

I always wondered when I wrote an include file for sombody else, why they would take it apart and paste it in 4 different places in their own program. Just doesn't make sense to me. And seemed rude to me at the time.
But apparently, everybody would do the same thing.

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And, about those "Magic Numbers", don't like 'em
Do you know how many problems on both the List and the forum have been tracked down to Magic Numbers. The newbie just cut&pastes the code we give them without having a clue how it works. They spend a week trying to figure out why the Code doesn't work, and it turns out to be that T1CON=%00001001 should have been T1CON=%00000001 or something similar.

Granted, doing it all in one shot saves instruction cycles, and code space. But it sure can cause problems when sharing your code in public forums.

Best regards,
   Darrel Taylor

P.S. scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the vB Code link. There are several ways to format your posts.