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=1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!sdd.hp.com!caen!news.cs.indiana.edu!arizona.edu!east.pima.edu!rharwood Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Language Flames Message-ID: <1991May21.163758.1@east.pima.edu> From: rharwood@east.pima.edu Date: 21 May 91 16:37:58 MST References: <3208@sparko.gwu.edu> List-Id: Aw shucks, Mike... I was hoping the flames would continue just a little longer so that I'd have more incentive to learn the KILL option of NEWS! I HAVE heard verbal complaints from readers of the INFO-ADA list who don't have much choice but to labor through the whole muck. In reality, it is a shame to have 500 and 700 line messages floating all over the countryside which so blatantly SHOUT one's opinion. If I am successful at starting a CompuServe Ada Forum, such opinions will be welcomed, but few people will tolerate spending a single nickel reading articles of the tone so recently endured here, even at only $6 or $12 an hour. I can't and won't argue for/against C++ because I don't know the language. I CAN argue the merits of structured design and coding. The analogy I often tout is that coding in Ada grabs you by the arm and LEADS you down a structured path, but coding with C -- while you CAN mold it into bricks -- tends to fall helter-skelter in a heap of . I've had students whose first language was Pascal remark, after taking C, "Gee, I don't know what all the fuss is about, with a little effort you can write structured code in C just as well as you can in any other language." On the other hand, "C-first" students generally remark: "I don't know why you go to all that extra effort to write structured code in the first place; my version works just as well as yours and it only took 100 lines. Oh, don't worry about maintenance, this is just a student exercise, and if it was the real world, someone else would have to worry about re-writing it... they'd probably just junk it and start all over anyway." How right they are! OK, so I don't have sworn affadavits for the above statements, but they DO reflect the attitudes of 5 consecutive semesters of data structures students... ----- Ray Harwood |Data Basix |Associate Faculty, Voice: (602)721-1988 |PO Box 18324 | Pima Community College FAX: (602)721-7240 |Tucson, AZ 85731 |Instructor in Ada and Pascal CompuServe: 76645,1370|AppleLink: DATA.BASIX|Internet: rharwood@east.pima.edu