Re: some questions re. Ada/GNAT from a C++/GCC user

[Ken Garlington <garlingtonke@lfwc.lockheed.com>]

Robert A Duff wrote:
> 
> >What about a variable declaration that's not so plain? Would I still
> >need a block statement in that case?
> 
> I think you should be able to introduce a named block wherever you like.

OK, but what is the impact to maintenance if Ada supports both "declaration
on the fly" and "declaration within blocks"? If I introduce a "simple
declaration" (whatever that means) without the need to explicitly highlight
the declarative region, and then I start slowly increasing the complexity
of that declarative region, do I get into trouble?

My bottom line on Ada is that, for very simple programs, you type some
stuff you don't need. Never mind "declare", there's all sort of keywords
you could probably get rid off for trivial programs, and a smart compiler
could still derive the meaning (a la PL/I, which can derive meaning from
total nonsense, too!) However, those keywords do add value to the maintainer
(my opinion). With current editor technology, and the not-at-all-
uncommon phenomenon of tiny programs growing over time, I think it's a small
price to pay.

> 
> - Bob