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=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!mnetor!tmsoft!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!cernvax!chx400!chx400!sicsun!disuns2!elcgl.epfl.ch!madmats From: madmats@elcgl.epfl.ch Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Reference vs. copy semantics in passing parameters Message-ID: <1991Feb18.141058.1@elcgl.epfl.ch> Date: 18 Feb 91 13:10:58 GMT References: <5572@baird.cs.strath.ac.uk> <1991Feb13.211643.25777@rti.rti.org> <2725@sparko.gwu.edu> <2742@sparko.gwu.edu> Sender: news@disuns2.epfl.ch Organization: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne List-Id: In article <2742@sparko.gwu.edu>, mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) writes: > > PS: It seems to me that Ada9x could clarify the issue by simply requiring > that structured parameters be passed by reference (instead of the Ada83 > rule that it's implementation-dependent). Since a program whose behavior > depends upon the method of passing is - by definition of the LRM - > erroneous, the only programs that would break would be erroneous ones, > which Ada9x says it doesn't care about. So the clarification would be > upward compatible. Ada9x-ers: what would be the objections? I think the objections would be that there should be nothing in Ada that prevents its implementation on a distributed system (without shared memory). Remote procedure calls and entries cannot reasonably be done if the reference mechanism is used for parameter passing, even for large structures. Mats