In Part 2, we delve deeper into control flow techniques. This time, we focus on code design skills rather than relying on tools integrated into the compiler/language. As a result, these techniques can be applied to any modern programming language or runtime of choice. While some of them are recognized as patterns, others involve manipulating language rules in a more nuanced way. Regardless, all of them merit our attention as novel approaches to resolving common programming challenges.
It's been a while since my last post, but I'm back with more thoughts on managing execution control flow. How do programming languages control the flow or processing of instructions? We are going to be talking about tools far more interesting than control structures such as loops, conditional statements, functions, and exceptions. Not every language has them built in, but most of them could be emulated. As such, this part 1 article discusses the use of continuations, coroutines, and fibers for managing control flow in software programs. It explores the benefits and differences of each mechanism and provides examples of their implementation.