Re: Looking for good Ada95 book

[lars.farm@ite.mh.se (Lars Farm)]

Robert Dewar <dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu> wrote:

> What is a little unusual about Mike's position is that he thinks it is
> a small point, but is still adamant in insisting on using this nonstandard
> style in his books. Mike, you are allowed to be insistent on your position,
> but if you are insistent, then surely it is NOT such a small point :-)

I have seen so many styles over the years, and so many heated debates
about the subject that I am convinced that this is not a small point to
the individual. Most of us have strong opinions. You obviously have. I
do[1][2] and Michael Feldman seems to have opinions too. Interestingly
all three of us have different opinions on what is and is not readable.
There is no right or wrong. There is only opinion. There will never be
consensus over an entire user community. 

I have come to accept that this is the way of things. Look at C or C++.
A much larger user base and much larger diversity of styles and naming
conventions. This is not because of language (it requires lower case
keywords). This is because programmers are human. We want to keep them
human, don't we?

Allow different styles, learn to live with and even appreciate
diversity. This way ones own style will gradually evolve into something
better from external influences.

Differentiating between keywords, typenames, constants and other kinds
of names is something that programming editors do very nicely with
syntax highlighting, colour and other tools. Style conventions merely
for that, has become less of an issue or even a non issue.

 Lars


[1] For instance, I find Your_Mixed_Case_Identifiers harder to read than
all_lower_case_identifiers because lower case looks like ordinary text
and Mixed_Case_Identifiers_Looks_Like_Nothing_Else (possibly because no
one in his right mind would ever capitalize every word in a swedish
sentence - not even a book title - This_Is_Every_Bit_As_Much_Shouting as
ALL_UPPER_CASE). Neither can I stand Hungarian notation. Even so, if
there is a style guide for an employer or a project, I'll use it because
it's their money and the code I write is their code so they should have
their style. This doesn't mean that their style is my style.

[2] Of course, when confronted with that, most programmers deny any such
opinions and use other motives for enforcing their style on others.


-- 
Lars Farm, lars.farm@ite.mh.se