c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[mike]

ok guys. look what I saw. There is this company that makes
this supposdly cool tool. with this tool, it will find all
you c/c++ bugs. is this the end of Ada claim to be a safer 
language than C/C++? 


"...you need to be
proficient in at least one of these,a long with C/C++
skills. 

The software is an automatic code reviewer.
The client plugs their source code into their software
and it will create a database that shows you what bugs
you have and prioritizes them."

sounds like lint for c++ for me?

Could not find more information on this product. it is 
a start-up company in silicon valley, CA. no company
name attached. (must be a secret project).

This was seen on a job ad. in ba.jobs.contract.

you just 'plug' your code, and it will find the 'bugs' for
you. can't get easier than this.

Who needs Ada after this?

Mike.

Re: c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[Martin C. Carlisle]

In article <7af49j$hti@drn.newsguy.com>,  <mike@beenthere.nospam.com> wrote:
>The software is an automatic code reviewer.
>The client plugs their source code into their software
>and it will create a database that shows you what bugs
>you have and prioritizes them."

Now I've heard everything.  You ask "who needs Ada?"  Who needs anything?
It obviously can read my mind to know what the code is supposed to be
doing.

Even C/C++ and a lint tool together could *at best* approximate Ada's
type safety.  

--Martin

-- 
Martin C. Carlisle, Asst Prof of Computer Science, US Air Force Academy
mcc@cs.usafa.af.mil, http://www.usafa.af.mil/dfcs/bios/carlisle.html
DISCLAIMER:  This content in no way reflects the opinions, standards or 
policy of the US Air Force Academy or the United States Government.

Re: c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[Marin David Condic]

Martin C. Carlisle wrote:
> Now I've heard everything.  You ask "who needs Ada?"  Who needs anything?
> It obviously can read my mind to know what the code is supposed to be
> doing.
> 
So someone has figured out how to implement the "Don't do as I say, do
as I mean!" instruction in C/C++ - this has got to be written up in some
important AI journal - or maybe the Journal Of Irreproducible Results.

At best, a tool like this can only spot some of the more common errors
and give you some kind of warning about it. If a statement is legal in a
language, how can the machine know that it isn't precisely what I
intended?

What was that rule I used to know? "A _________ and his ___________ are
soon parted" :-)

MDC
-- 
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
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Re: c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[robert_dewar]

In article <36CB3D0C.F01D3CD@pwfl.com>,
  diespammer@pwfl.com wrote:
> At best, a tool like this can only spot some of the more
> common errors and give you some kind of warning about it.
> If a statement is legal in a language, how can the
> machine know that it isn't precisely what I intended?

Actually it seems to me that the extent to which it is
possible to create such a tool is a direct indicator of
the quality of the language design, a negative one!

People often ask can we get a lint for Ada, and of course
the answer is no, because the kinds of things that lint
might typically find in a C program simply can't happen in
an Ada program in the first place :-)

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Re: c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[Rod Chapman]

robert_dewar@my-dejanews.com wrote:
> Actually it seems to me that the extent to which it is
> possible to create such a tool is a direct indicator of
> the quality of the language design...

Absolutely - many of the more subtle and interesting semantic
analyses performed by the SPARK Examiner depend on the strength
of SPARK's language design.  SPARK, for instance, eliminates
all semantic dependence on parameter passing mechanism, 
alising and function side-effects.  The Examiner also
manages these analyses in polynomial-time for realistic size
programs - which simply couldn't be done if it wasn't for the
simplicity and formality of the language in the first place!

(If you're interested in language design and are now thinking
"What's SPARK?", then I suggest you have a look - John Barnes'
most recent book is a good place to start.)

 - Rod Chapman
   Praxis Critical Systems

Re: c/c++ now safer than Ada. a new tool.

[Gautier]

> ok guys. look what I saw. There is this company that makes
> this supposdly cool tool. with this tool, it will find all
> you c/c++ bugs. is this the end of Ada claim to be a safer
> language than C/C++?

No, it will just confirm that C/C++ alone is not safe enough !

BTW it would only prove (if it was needed) that C/C++ development
  - takes more time (here: the time to install/configure/run
    your cool tool)
  - costs more (the price of your cool tool and its upgrades;
    there will be many upgrades unless it has been directly
    written in Ada).

(...)
> you just 'plug' your code, and it will find the 'bugs' for
> you. can't get easier than this.

OK. I have added a bug (an extra '-') in the following C code:

#include <io.h>
float o=0.075,h=1.5,T,r,O,l,I;int _,L=-80,s=3200;main(){for(;s%L||
(h-=o,T= -2),s;4 -(r=O*O)<(l=I*I)|++ _==L&&write(1,(--s%L?_<L?--_
%6:6:7)+"World! \n",1)&&(O=I=l=_=r=0,T+=o /2))O=I*2*O+h,I=l+T-r;}

I hope your tool will find it. Otherwise, I will be very disappointed.

> Who needs Ada after this?

Nobody. Even C/C++. Or assembler. We all will write machine
code when your cool tool is available for it.

-- 
Gautier

--------
Homepage: http://www.unine.ch/math/Personnel/Assistants/Gautier/Montmollin.html
Software: http://www.unine.ch/math/Personnel/Assistants/Gautier/Gaut_FTP.htm.