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From: johnt@mead.UUCP (John Townsend)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Put_Line ("Hello World!");
Message-ID: <1131@meaddata.mead.UUCP>
Date: 10 Aug 90 15:00:17 GMT
Sender: usenet@mead.UUCP
Reply-To: johnt@mead.UUCP (John Townsend)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


   The purpose of this note is mostly for me to see if I can really
   get a message to the outside world through USENET, but I'd also
   like to introduce myself to this Ada group.  I recently joined Mead
   Data Central (the world's largest electronic publisher, with the
   Lexis/Nexis database) after working for SofTech for three years.
   At SofTech, I was responsible for writing a significant portion of
   the ACVC (Ada Compiler Validation Capability) test suite, and also
   for validating numerous Ada compilers (including, <ahem>, Verdix).
   Now, in the commercial world, I am busy getting up to speed with
   the "other" language, C++.  However, I miss Ada, and look forward
   to getting a daily "fix" from here.  Object-orientation or not,
   I'll NEVER get used to implicit type conversions!

   Now, regarding USE clauses:  I've known a lot of programmers who
   seem to think that they should always automatically follow a WITH
   (context) clause.  I'm of the opinion that the USE clause is one of
   the biggest crutches in Ada, however, and should be used sparingly
   or not at all.  "Readablity" to me is program code which tells me
   exactly what the computer's going to execute.  I don't cuddle up in
   a beanbag next to the fireplace with a "good program" for
   recreational reading in the evenings, y'know, so I don't care if
   it's artisticly pleasing to the eye if I can debug it quickly.  On
   the other hand, I realize that on large projects, the strict use of
   dot notation only can really cause identifiers to get out of hand.
   After all, package STANDARD is implicitly USEd, y'know.  The moral:
   use it when and where you really have to, not automatically.  If
   God (aka AJPO) had wanted you to always use USE clauses, he
   would've included it in the WITH clause.