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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,c2f62556e56c9683 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: claveman@inetworld.net (Charles H. Sampson) Subject: Re: 'with'ing and 'use'ing Date: 2000/03/03 Message-ID: <1e6xw1b.crkgd5nhvbzuN%claveman@inetworld.net>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 592982227 References: <38BC2EB3.2639372B@acm.org> <89l6aj$s5e$1@wanadoo.fr> X-Trace: newsfeed.slurp.net 952151415 209.132.125.161 (Sat, 04 Mar 2000 00:30:15 CDT) User-Agent: MacSOUP/2.4.2 NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 00:30:15 CDT Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-03-03T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: M. Rosen modestly omits that he wrote a very good paper several years ago arguing in favor of the use clause. While I was already a strong use-phile before reading the paper, it clarified a number of ideas that I had understood only instinctively. I haven't read it in several years but I remember the argument that fully-qualified names in- hibit readability because the least important part of the name is on the left, (the most significant position) and the most important part is on the right (the least significant position). A common argument against the use clause is that fully-qualified names make it easy to find an identifier's declaration when necessary. M. Rosen argued that this wouldn't be necessary when we had environments that led us from use to declaration with a mouse click. We have such environments now. I've always characterized this latter argument against the use clause as being akin to writing a paper with each word followed by the page number where its definition could be found in a certain dictionary, just in case somebody needs to know. Not the world's greatest analogy but, in other words, to me it's been a lot of clutter to carry around for the occasional use. I can't remember where to find the paper, even though I'm sure I have one lost in the mass of papers in my office. I think it was pub- lished in Ada Letters. I've poked around adahome for a few minutes and couldn't find it there. J-P? Charlie -- To get my correct email address, replace the "claveman" by "csampson" in my fake (anti-spam) address.