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=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,9c86eb13dd395066 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Tom Moran Subject: Re: CRC in Ada? Date: 1997/03/15 Message-ID: <332B2706.6A1D@bix.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 225824828 References: <5g98ai$gqi@news2.delphi.com> Organization: InterNex Information Services 1-800-595-3333 Reply-To: tmoran@bix.com Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-03-15T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: > Anyone who makes language decisions based on uncritical analysis of > isolated data points of this kind without investigating the source > of the difference is either incompetent, or looking for an excuse to > make a decision that they wanted to make for other reasons anyway. > This really marks the crux of our disagreement. To me the point is not "he chose not-Ada unfairly" but rather "he chose not-Ada". I certainly agree that choosing a language based on a single test with a tiny program would be most unwise. But there are people who do it. I'd rather have those people choose Ada than choose against Ada. Not only would that give hope that their wisdom might be increased, it would also make their software, which I might someday depend on, work better. Both the design and the implementation of Ada must take marketing into account - or else. For example, suppose Ada 0X had a postfix ++ operator, analogous to C's, but guaranteed task safe, and to guarantee this some compiler generated RTS tasking calls. X++ on such a system might well take quite a bit longer than X++ on C, but it would be safer. A sophisticated Ada programmer would know not to use X++ unless he actually needed it, but someone transliterating a little C program just to try out the trial version Ada compiler they had just downloaded would likely use X++, be horrified by the program's slowness, and drop all notion of using Ada. I would call that a bad outcome and would find little solace in calling such a person incompetent.