From: rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn)
Subject: ending a language war (was "proposal for Ada preprocessor")
Date: 22 Dec 89 23:51:45 GMT [thread overview]
Message-ID: <1989Dec22.235145.3195@ico.isc.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 7423@hubcap.clemson.edu
A posting from Bill Wolfe suggested to me that there might be a way to end
one language war...Bill had mentioned:
> ...Classic
> Ada, a preprocessor used to generate Ada code which implements the
> object-oriented mechanisms of inheritance and dynamic binding...
I hadn't been aware of this, but I've known all along that C++ was done as
a preprocessor. The thing that I hadn't realized, that's important, is
that it's apparently within the spirit of proper Ada usage to construct a
language variant with a preprocessor!
So...we know that we can preprocess C++ -> C. I suspect one can preprocess
to get C -> Ada. Combine the two and you've got a tool analogous to
"Classic Ada" except that its input looks like C++. C++ programmers can
create Ada programs without having to learn nasty old Ada, and they can
stop complaining about what Ada lacks. Ada partisans can stop flaming C++
folk for being nasty hackers who refuse to see the clear superiority of
the One True Language.
What's wrong with this picture?
Being serious for a moment (Bill W says programming is serious), I see
three possibilities for the above scenario:
- It's OK, in which case it seems that one could make arbitrary changes
to "Ada" by this approach--as long as the preprocessor output is Ada.
- It's entirely out of the spirit of Ada, in which case I wonder why
"Classic Ada" is acceptable.
- It's not OK but "Classic Ada" is OK, in which case I wonder where the
dividing line lies.
--
Dick Dunn rcd@ico.isc.com uucp: {ncar,nbires}!ico!rcd (303)449-2870
...Mr. Natural says, "Use the right tool for the job."
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1989-12-22 23:51 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 9+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1989-12-12 20:30 Dave Emery's proposal for Ada preprocessor Daniel Lee
1989-12-13 14:31 ` arny.b.engelson
1989-12-13 22:23 ` Michael Schwartz
1989-12-14 14:47 ` William Thomas Wolfe, 2847
1989-12-14 15:11 ` Steve Tynor
1989-12-14 20:40 ` William Thomas Wolfe, 2847
1989-12-22 23:51 ` Dick Dunn [this message]
1989-12-23 13:04 ` ending a language war (was "proposal for Ada preprocessor") Markku Sakkinen
1989-12-26 21:59 ` Preprocessors & the "spirit of Ada" William Thomas Wolfe, 2847
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