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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_05,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!news.cs.indiana.edu!arizona.edu!east.pima.edu!rharwood From: rharwood@east.pima.edu Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Free Optimizing Ada Compiler Message-ID: <1991May9.174635.1@east.pima.edu> Date: 10 May 91 00:46:35 GMT References: <1991May9.080740.6534@netcom.COM> <9105091625.AA11977@enuxha.eas.asu.edu> <1991May9.175544.11853@beaver.cs.washington.edu> Distribution: comp.lang.ada List-Id: In article <1991May9.175544.11853@beaver.cs.washington.edu>, pattis@june.cs.washington.edu (Richard Pattis) writes: > I don't have any information comparing Ada vs C based on the total number of > compiles it takes to get a program correct. While it is easy to measure the > absolute speed of a C and Ada compiler, the more important quantity to measure > is how long it takes the student to get a working program (summing all the > compile times he/she uses). I LOVE the bits of wisdom that come from these discussions! I remember working on a project 3 years ago where the data-base CSCI programmers changed the orders of the parameters in all the data-base calls (naturally, the FORTRAN compiler couldn't care less)... AND they neglected to tell the users of the other 6 CSCIs! This change wasn't caught for weeks (for reasons I'll not go into). Same people, working on another project a year later, AGONIZED over ONE change to "the intermodule interfaces" because recompiling the package specs required recompiling 3 complete Ada libraries... and "hunting down" all those places that would subsequently require alteration in response to the change. Yes, eventually, the change was made, but ONLY AFTER CAREFUL CONSIDERATION! Students should learn experience this early in their programming careers. I'll not climb atop my soapbox, but I will repeat a statement a collegue made recently: "I gave up trying to be 'real-world' in the classroom long ago." ----- 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