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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,fe82bd3a72926e1a X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: fdb77,374e3d493349dc8f X-Google-Attributes: gidfdb77,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-10-14 10:27:12 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: mjsilva697@earthlink.net (Mike Silva) Newsgroups: comp.lang.java.advocacy,comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Language design by by committee ( was Re: Try J# ( was Re: J# is there )) Date: 14 Oct 2001 10:27:11 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Message-ID: <27085883.0110140927.2292983@posting.google.com> References: <9q223u$lap2j$1@ID-77397.news.dfncis.de> <3BC5C49F.B1386292@ao_spam_nix.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.179.253.216 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1003080432 28352 127.0.0.1 (14 Oct 2001 17:27:12 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 14 Oct 2001 17:27:12 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.java.advocacy:30805 comp.lang.ada:14481 Date: 2001-10-14T17:27:12+00:00 List-Id: Dale Stanbrough wrote in message news:... > Israel Raj T wrote: > > > Tony Hoare was an early member of the design committee until he left > > in disgust. In his ACM Turing Award lecture "The Emperor's Old Clothes > > " he says just that. > > Tony Hoare left because he thought the language was way too big. > Later on he wrote a foreward to a book in which he recanted this > view, and hope people would have the opportunity to use Ada (I > think he said "this fine language", but I can't be sure). > > Dale A google search finds this: Here is the text of Mr. Hoare's foreward to an Ada book in 1987. You may judge for yourself whether he was as anti-Ada as you suggest. C.A.R. Hoare's comments in the foreward to Ada Language and Methodology " 'I enjoyed reading the Algol 60 report; it taught me a lot about programming.' This is the comment of a data processing manager of a major motor manufacturing company, who had no conceivable prospect of ever using the language to program a computer. It is a most perceptive comment, because it describes an important goal in the design of a new programming language: that it should be an aid in specification, description, and design of programs, as well as in the construction of reliable code. This was one of the main aims in the design of the language which was later given the name Ada. As a result, the language incorporates many excellent structural features which have proved their value in many precursor languages such as Pascal and Pascal Plus. The combination of many complex features into a single language has led to an unfortunate delay in availability of production-quality implementations. But the long wait is coming to an end, and one can now look forward to a rapid and widespread improvement in programming practice, both from those who use the language and from those who study its concepts and structures. I hope that this book will contribute directly to these ideals, which have inspired many of the other books in the same series. It continues the tradition of the series in that it describes how the language can be used as the target of sound programming methodology, embracing the full life-cycle of a programming project. It explains not just the features and details of the language, but also their purpose and method of effective use. The complexities and difficulties are not glossed over; they are explained within the appropriate context, with hints on how to avoid any consequent problems. I hope the book will be useful, both to those who have the privilege or obligation to use the language, and to those who have the interest and curiosity to understand and appreciate its rationale. " from the foreward to Ada Language and Methodology David A. Watt, Brian A. Wichmann, and William Findlay, Prentice-Hall International Series in Computer Science ISBN 0-13-004078-9 Published in 1987 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------