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From: "Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>
Subject: Re: The future of Ada is at risk
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
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References: <20071229040639.f753f982.coolzone@it.dk>
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 <agyaras-50CE35.10341806012008@news.inode.at>
Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2008 11:26:43 +0100
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On Sun, 06 Jan 2008 10:34:25 +0100, Agyaras wrote:

> I think that the default string type should be the unbounded string,

No, all string types should simply be subtypes of each other. In that case
you will need no conversions at all and no specialized library versions for
all geometrically exploding combinations of string types. The compiler
would convert representations where appropriate.

Same with Character vs. Wide_Character vs. Wide_Wide_Character.

BTW, if you look at use statistics of String vs. Unbounded_String you will
wonder how minor is use of Unbounded_String in Ada programs. Ada 83 string
design was extremely successful. You just do not need Unbounded_String in
most cases. The cases where Unbounded_String appears are rare and usually
at the language weakness points. For example, when you need to return two
strings out of one function. Another example is when you want to put string
into a record.

> Talking about safety and ergonomics: how do you tell which Ada 
> subprograms raise which exceptions?

True, exceptions should be contracted.

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