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From: Robb.Nebbe@di.epfl.ch (Robb Nebbe)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: Re: Is Ada the future? [was: Is C++ the future?]
Date: 4 Oct 1994 08:41:12 GMT
Organization: Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne
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Date: 1994-10-04T08:41:12+00:00
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In article <milodCx46t7.FIB@netcom.com>,
   milod@netcom.com (John DiCamillo) writes:

|> Languages are not maintainable.  Rather, programs are main-
|> tainable.  A good language and environment coupled with
|> dedicated engineers and good development practices can pro-
|> mote the generation of maintainable code.  In what specific
|> ways does Ada9x promote program maintainability that are
|> *not* provided by C++ or Eiffel?

In my opinion there are two important factors that make software
maintainable. The ability to define an abstraction and have the
compiler enforce this abstraction and the ability for the person
doing the maintenance to understand the abstraction.

For defining and particularly enforcing an abstraction you could
make a fairly strong case that Ada is better than C++. The case
wouldn't be that you can't define and enforce an abstraction in
C++, which would be a bit naive, but that in some cases the effort
required goes far beyond what is required in Ada.

Understandability is probably more closely related to the quality
of the code than the language used but I know for a fact that the
language has at least some influence. I have yet to see any Ada
code as badly written as some of the C I have seen (not even close
in fact).

- Robb Nebbe