Re: [OT] interesting reason why a language is considered good

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:48:23 +0100, Simon Wright wrote:

> "Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com> writes:
> 
>> Unfortunately, this solution makes insanely wordy calls:
>>
>>     Leave (Scheduled_Departure => Now);
>>
>> In many cases, the parameter names overwhelm the actual values. The
>> "solution" usually used is to omit them from the calls altogether,
>> reducing readability and understandability.
> 
> Your "insanely wordy" is my "perfectly natural"!
> 
>    procedure Serve (Using_Port : GNAT.Sockets.Port_Type;
>                     At_Priority : System.Priority := System.Default_Priority;
>                     With_Stack : Positive := 20_000;
>                     Logging_Via : Logger := null;
>                     Tracing : Boolean := False);
> 
> called as
> 
>    Serve (Using_Port => 8080,
>           With_Stack => 40_000,
>           Tracing => Verbose);
> 
> Now that I look at them, both would probably be improved with a bit of
> alignment:
> 
>    Serve (Using_Port => 8080,
>           With_Stack => 40_000,
>           Tracing    => Verbose);

Why not "With_Tracing" then? In "Using_Port" "Using" is just noise, as well
as "With" in "With_Stack."

My take would be:

   Serve (Port => 8080, Max_Stack_Depth => 40_000, Tracing_Level =>
Verbose);

P.S. I would never use an abstraction with side-effects. I.e. Serve would
become an operation of some explicit Connection, Worker etc object keeping
the state.

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de