Re: lint tool for Ada?

[nwnexus!emagnuso@uunet.uu.net (Erik Magnuson)]

In article <C9GAvr.L05@dale.cts.com> helkenn@dale.cts.com (David Helken) writes
:
>  Am I just using the wrong compiler? :-)
>
>	David

Maybe. Let's see now...

1. Unused objects
   - Rational will highlight all unused withs, declarations, and objects
     with a single key. 
   - Alsys cross reference utility will also flag unused objects
     including enumeration literals. (Although it flags as unused
     named numbers that are used only to define other named numbers.)

   I'm sure other vendors xref utilities do as well. In general, this
   feature requires the units to be compiled (possibly with debugging
   or some other extra options) and some way to specify
   which units to consider.

2. Uninitialized variables
   - ICC (w/optimization) will warn about potential uninitialized variables

3. Dead code
   - Alsys and ICC both warn about dead code (when they eliminate it)

I've traditionally included assessments of these features in my compiler
evaluations. This is from memory for the last several compilers I
worked with. I used to have a longer list but I'm sure it's out of
date by now. (If anyone else wants to jump in with what compilers do
what, I'd find it interesting.)

Should providing these features be the job of the Ada compiler vendor?

Pro:
  The compiler (and optimizer) often has to figure this out anyway.
  The compiler (or vendor) can take into account vendor specific stuff
  like pragmas.

Con:
  The Ada vendors have a hard enough time getting good compilers out
  the door! 
  Not all vendors will supply the same capabilities (IMHO support
  toolsets vary more than code quality.)

--
Erik