Re: Difference between C++'s templates and Ada's generic units

["Steve Doiel" <nospam_steved@pacifier.com>]

Samir N. Muhammad wrote in message <6ai045$50p40@beaker.nit.gwu.edu>...
>Hello everybody,
>
>Would someone explain whether there is a difference between C++'s templates
>and Ada's generic units. I checked the WEB document by David Wheeler,
>"Ada,C,C++, and Java vs. The Steelman", and found out that the only
difference
>is that C++'s templates are not yet standardized. Are there any essential
>differenes between C++ and Ada support for generic programming.
>
While I haven't done a lot of programming with C++'s templates, or much with
Ada's generics, I can say that Ada's generics are simpler to use.

My experience with C++ templates was frustrating.  While using a standard
class library I didn't override a virtual function that I was supposed to.
The result
was a compile time error deep inside the template code.  It was very
difficult to
interpret and find the source of the problem.

My experience with Ada's generics was far less frustrating.  All of my
compile
time errors appeared in my generic spec module (imagine that!).

SteveD