Re: Reuseable Scientific Types Package

[David Kristola <David95037@See-My.Sig>]

On Wed, 12 Jul 2000 8:13:24 -0700, Brian Rogoff wrote
(in message <Pine.BSF.4.21.0007120805010.4351-100000@shell5.ba.best.com>):

(i said)
>> I think the idea of having a code generator might be reusable.
>> A user could enter in the set of types she is interested in
>> and produce a types package with just those types.  Any
>> individual project is likely to be limited in the units that
>> are important.
> 
> Actually, the idea of a code generator is extremely useful, but I thought 
> macros were considered a non-no in the Ada community. A powerful macro 
> system would allow you to do a lot more than just handle systems of units. 
> You might want to examine some other macro and preprocessing systems, like 
> those of Common Lisp, Scheme, Dylan, M5, and CamlP4. 

Ada has no defined macro system, but there is nothing to stop someone from
using external macros.  I have used macros in Ada code under VADS, and i
know (but do not personally use) that macros are available under Rational
Apex.

The code generator i mentioned above could possibly be constructed using
macros, but the one i developed at work is not a macro, it is a program
created in Ada, and maintained in our CM structure.  If we need to add a
type to the list of supported types, we would modify the generator, check
in those modifications, run it, and check in the 8 source files it produces
(which are also under CM control).


-- 
--djk, keeper of arcane lore & trivial fluff
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