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 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,7251fa99aab97e06 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1993-03-08 14:07:10 PST Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Path: sparky!uunet!seas.gwu.edu!mfeldman From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Subject: Re: Ichibah flames, and flames out over, Ada 9X Message-ID: <1993Mar8.162831.8767@seas.gwu.edu> Sender: news@seas.gwu.edu Organization: George Washington University References: <1993Mar7.191557.5547@evb.com> <1993Mar8.153639.3603@inmet.camb.inmet.com> Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1993 16:28:31 GMT Date: 1993-03-08T16:28:31+00:00 List-Id: In article <1993Mar8.153639.3603@inmet.camb.inmet.com> stt@spock.camb.inmet.com (Tucker Taft) writes: > [ good stuff deleted] >In any case, Ada 83 clearly chose the package-based approach, and >we are not trying to change that for Ada 9X. We felt that there >was no need to force Ada programmers to adopt a different way of >doing encapsulation just to get more support for dynamic binding >and type extension. > >We don't see the need to make Ada 9X a "me too" object-oriented >language. Instead, we want it to combine the best ideas of >Ada 83 and OO languages, into something that advances the state >of the art, not something that trails just behind always trying >to catch up. We believe that this approach makes the most sense, >both technical, and marketing. Your mileage may of course vary... > Hear, hear! It seems the same people who have trashed Ada for being too stodgy and conservative now want Ada to be merely imitative of the latest craze. Just because C++ does something in a certain way does NOT make it the only way, or the only correct way. There is nothing to prevent Ada from charting its own course. Ada's success will be fostered far more by the ready availability of Ada9X compilers and tools at fair prices, including some free ones so that we academics can muck around in the source code, than by whether or not it uses the magic word "class". Instead of constantly kvetching about classes vs. tagged types, let's get on about the _real_ business. Freeze the language and get the compilers done. I meet too many people who describe OOP as follows: "I don't know much about it, but whatever it is, it's that stuff C++ can do and Ada can't." It's high time to change this culture of ignorance. It starts in the schools and works its way outward. The Ada83 "in group" missed this point. Thank Heaven that the Ada9X "in group" seems (_seems_) to be getting it. We shall see... Cheers - Mike Feldman ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Michael B. Feldman co-chair, SIGAda Education Committee Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science School of Engineering and Applied Science The George Washington University Washington, DC 20052 USA (202) 994-5253 (voice) (202) 994-5296 (fax) mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet) "The most important thing is to be sincere, and once you've learned how to fake that, you've got it made." -- old show-business adage ------------------------------------------------------------------------