>
>
>>
>>Good day,
>>
>>I need a suggestion. Suppose, one can implement the
>>same thing by using a subroutine and by using a macro. Examples - a
>>delay or a 'clear screen' command to LCD driver. What criteria should
>>I use to decide which (subroutine or macro) to use for the
>>implementation?
>>
>>Thanks in advance.
>>
>>Peace,
>>Mohit Mahajan.
>>
As Al pointed out there are a lot of factors in this type of decision.
 Some other aspect you may need to take into consideration are:
Rapid Application Development
Debug-ability
Power usage
Device cost

For instance, you can usually get a faster device and/or a device with
more space, but then the device costs more and consumes more power.
 Macros and Subroutines both have issues with how you can debug the code
- for instance you may go over your code a dozen times without taking
into account how the macro affects the z bit, whereas a subroutine may
be more transparent (it really depends on your frame of mind)  To aid
this, all macros and subroutines should have a header which:
* Names the macro/subroutine
* Brief description of its purpose
* Inputs and range
* Outputs and range
* Any other bits/bytes changed or used (ie, W may be destroyed, Z, C, or
status may be affected, etc)

And refer to it when you have a problem you can't solve.

Lastly is RAD, or Rapid Application Development.  Some programmers
prefer one method over the other, and some programmers have libraries of
macros and subroutines both of which  speed (significantly) the
development process.   Since you don't have time or money invested in
one or the other then it may not affect your decision now, but if your
macros and subs are useful, consider creating a seperate library for
them and starting your own collection.  Most of the decision should rest
on the other facters, but you ought to consider this now before you
realize a few years down the road that you've written (and debugged)
this same 5 lines of code dozens of times and you should've put it into
a library.

-Adam

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