From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,5f764f1f7822ab9c X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: David Kristola Subject: Re: Top 10 Language Constructs (Ada) Date: 2000/07/14 Message-ID: <01HW.B5944CEA000C926C08C44DCC@news.pacbell.net>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 646287088 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <8kmjja$l5h$1@pollux.ip-plus.net> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Complaints-To: abuse@pacbell.net X-Trace: news.pacbell.net 963575506 63.194.212.92 (Fri, 14 Jul 2000 04:51:46 PDT) Organization: heaps of stacks User-Agent: Hogwasher 2.0 (Macintosh) MIME-Version: 1.0 NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 14 Jul 2000 04:51:46 PDT Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-07-14T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: On Fri, 14 Jul 2000 1:40:45 -0700, Bruno Gustavs wrote (in message <8kmjja$l5h$1@pollux.ip-plus.net>): > What do you think are the top ten language constructs in Ada? > Please don't answer in terms of OO concepts, but try to restrict > yourself to those statements you really use to cope with your > daily work. > > Curious why I'm asking this question? In spite of all requirements > engineering effort we know exactly *how* to solve problems > with computer languages but know fairly, *what* we're doing > during this process. > > Regards > Bruno Gustavs > > (It is almost light out, and i am avoiding going to sleep for reasons well beyond the scope of this news group, so please be advised that my answer should be taken with a grain of salt. ;-) I'm not sure what you mean by language constructs, and even if i knew what you meant, i'm not sure there is any way to prioritize them so that i could give you the top ten. If this fits the description of a language construct... Currently, i am fascinated by fixed point types (they are really very interesting) and reference counting smart pointers (very powerful). I have found that bit buckets can decouple otherwise hoplessly intertwined systems. I know what i am doing during the process. I am usually consuming a beverage (often with caffeine). Sometimes i have music playing (but i rarely listen to the music). I am constructing virtual machines that manupulate data across time and space (memory or communications hardware). I am weighing alternatives, considering threads of executions, and contemplating puzzles with complex interlocking peices. I am trying to reduce that complexity to the lowest level, to what is only inherent in the problem domain. Sometimes i add complexity, turn the problem over in my mind, and see an even simpler way to address it (thus removing more complexity then was just added). Sometimes, i even stop and wonder why they pay me so well to do a job that is so fun. Then i remember the impossible schedules, the endless meetings, the ever changing requirements, and the idiotic constraints and wonder why i work there when they are paying me so little. --djk