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: 103376,12283be683f6446b X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Marin David Condic Subject: Re: Elaborate compile-time error messages (was: GNAT Stream Read ...) Date: 1999/01/06 Message-ID: <369366F1.67C06BF0@pwfl.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 429400271 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: condicma@bogon.pwfl.com References: <76tsgd$s0o1@svlss.lmms.lmco.com> <76uv4j$njr$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <1999Jan6.072356.1@eisner> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Pratt & Whitney Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: diespammer@pwfl.com Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1999-01-06T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Larry Kilgallen wrote: > > > That certainly is a high quality error message. I am curious as to > why it is not the default. Is there some set of programmers who get > really mad at having the compiler be smarter than they are about the > nature of a problem. Just a guess, but have you noticed how one error early on in a compilation can have the bad effect of cascading down, generating hundreds of other messages? If the error messages are in full detail, this gets crowded quickly and might make it harder to find the original problem. > > I first used Ada with DEC Ada, where the error messages are also > quite complete, and it has never occurred to me to look for a way > to make them shorter. > I've always had a good deal of respect for the quality of the DEC compilers. (any language) They generate decent code, are well documented with lots of detail down to the bits&bytes level and generally provide good diagnostics. DEC seems to be out of the Ada compiler business, but I think other vendors could look at what they did and learn a lot from it. They may not have provided some spiffy graphic development environment, but they always gave me what mattered most: simple, reliable operation, quality code generation and really good documentation so I knew how to get the compiler to do what I wanted it to do. -- Marin David Condic Real Time & Embedded Systems, Propulsion Systems Analysis United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, Large Military Engines M/S 731-95, P.O.B. 109600, West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600 Ph: 561.796.8997 Fx: 561.796.4669 ***To reply, remove "bogon" from the domain name.*** "Eagles may soar, but a weasle never gets sucked up into a jet engine." -- Author Unknown