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=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Received: by 2002:a05:6214:601:: with SMTP id z1mr47179559qvw.197.1564071501565; Thu, 25 Jul 2019 09:18:21 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 2002:a9d:6c13:: with SMTP id f19mr27147975otq.76.1564071501269; Thu, 25 Jul 2019 09:18:21 -0700 (PDT) Path: eternal-september.org!reader01.eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!weretis.net!feeder6.news.weretis.net!feeder.usenetexpress.com!feeder-in1.iad1.usenetexpress.com!border1.nntp.dca1.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!b26no1636181qtq.0!news-out.google.com!a5ni1843qtd.0!nntp.google.com!b26no1636172qtq.0!postnews.google.com!glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2019 09:18:20 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <1dc13d50-7606-4530-b5cc-19e07b4d4938@googlegroups.com> Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com Injection-Info: glegroupsg2000goo.googlegroups.com; posting-host=131.95.162.128; posting-account=JSxOkAoAAADa00TJoz2WZ_46XrZCdXeS NNTP-Posting-Host: 131.95.162.128 References: <5d9a8728-3c5b-4caf-b765-a455ba4d3523@googlegroups.com> <5fb45b9c-d7da-447c-999e-0e8bcce2eed5@googlegroups.com> <1dc13d50-7606-4530-b5cc-19e07b4d4938@googlegroups.com> User-Agent: G2/1.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 Message-ID: <2bede4ed-485b-4edb-9fcf-46f49ff82fb5@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: How to make Ada popular. Get rid of ";" at end of statement. From: John Perry Injection-Date: Thu, 25 Jul 2019 16:18:21 +0000 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Xref: reader01.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:56939 Date: 2019-07-25T09:18:20-07:00 List-Id: On Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 2:26:29 AM UTC-5, Maciej Sobczak wrote: > > The one concrete reason I've ever heard for using C or C++ instead of M= odula-2 or Ada is that C/C++ allow you to perform pointer arithmetic >=20 > Really? I would never consider that reason myself. My question regarded the late 80s and early 90s, when (as I perceived it th= en) Turbo Pascal was still taught at some universities, Modula-2 was establ= ished in some places and still had a chance, C++ was only getting started, = and Ada was required for DoD work. Also, we were discussing a certain kind = of academic research, where the libraries you're talking about often don't = exist. So, of the point of my question was more along the lines of: with al= l the safety problems C has (and which C++ often carries over), why didn't = safe(r) languages get anywhere? That said, your point on libraries rings true. In 1992 or thereabouts I had= to set up an Ingres/SQL database using the C language interface. I remembe= r being frustrated with the number of times the program crashed because I f= orgot an ampersand (for example). And my interlocutor would certainly agree= about libraries, as he's a huge fan of the C++ STL. > 2. Again with regard to embedded systems, hardware vendors provide their = own IDEs. It's not just about libraries, see above, it's about the whole in= tegrated approach to use the hardware from configuration to synthesis to pr= ogramming. These IDEs are oriented towards C and C++ and with each new gene= ration using any other language is more and more difficult. That is, it is = genuinely *easier* to use C and C++. I haven't used one of these with C or C++, but I have done some work in Jav= a & Kotlin on IntelliJ (Android Studio, though AS seems really slow in comp= arison), and the difference between that IDE and my previous setup was an e= ye-opener. I may embarrass myself here, but I was impressed that it reports= errors as you type, recommends more idiomatic code, even more efficient co= nstructs... GPS, at least as shipped by AdaCore with the Community Edition, doesn't off= er nearly as much. john perry