Re: Ichibah flames, and flames out over, Ada 9X

[koehnema@enuxha.eas.asu.edu (Harry Koehnemann)]

In article <1993Mar8.162831.8767@seas.gwu.edu> mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) writes:
>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."

Hmmm.  Most the OO people I know talk about OO as "objects, classes,
and inheritance" and discuss objects as active entities (rather than
passive as they are with tagged types).  I don't mean to downplay the
work done on 9X and I personally haven't resolved the "Classes vs. Type
Extensions" question yet, but these are likely arguments you're going to
get from the OO community.

Every OO text I know of defines an OO language as Objects, Classes, and
Inheritance.  Granted type extensions yield a form of classification,
but it is not as evident as it is in a language with a construct called
"class".  And, we have yet to determined whether that form of
classification is as useful as a class.

Second, OO principles are very big on objects being active.  I write
Obj.Operation rather than Operation(Obj).  In fact, people have
hinted at Ada83 being OO because of the tasking mechanism, simply
because it uses hte proper notation (and that tasks have an internal
thread of control).  How does my OO design translate into a language
where objects aren't active?

>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...

I agree completely.  If you're going to sell Ada as object-oriented,
you'd better be prepared to defend that statment.  I disagree with
your assessment of the OO community.  Most of them really know their
shit when it comes to OOness and we sure as hell don't want to loose
arguments because we are ignorant of the facts.  I'm just getting
prepared for what's likely ahead.

Adios.
--
Harry Koehnemann			Arizona State University
koehnema@enuxha.eas.asu.edu		Computer Science Department