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=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FUZZY_DR_OZ, INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: fac41,d7d65ea56e79cf38 X-Google-Attributes: gidfac41,public X-Google-Thread: f4fd2,d7d65ea56e79cf38 X-Google-Attributes: gidf4fd2,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,f6683f059f3d3a2a,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 103d24,cae8aaeee4aa5156 X-Google-Attributes: gid103d24,public X-Google-Thread: 10dd18,d7d65ea56e79cf38 X-Google-Attributes: gid10dd18,public From: "Fernando D. Mato Mira" Subject: broken Date: 1999/06/14 Message-ID: <37645B8D.1A267771@acm.org>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 489245359 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <1283099377-77267484@hypernet.com> <375FDCA7.62FF@mailserver.hursley.ibm.com> <7josm1$bgc$1@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> <37628EBF.207F7A8F@iname.com> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: CSEM - Centre Suisse d'Electronique et de Microtechnique MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.python,comp.lang.lisp,comp.lang.scheme,comp.lang.eiffel,comp.lang.ada Date: 1999-06-14T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Fernando Mato Mira wrote: > [For example, I can think the Eiffel syntax is `philosophically' broken, but > as `infix' syntaxes go, it is not. And it's a good language (I programmed Correction. There's one thing broken. The Subject Oriented syntax, but as Eiffel was started in '85, I guess that is understandable. Ada 95 got this one right. Unfortunately, the semantics qualify as `multiply broken' regarding this issue: 1. They thought about multiple dispatch, and they broke it on purpose. 2. If you specialize on more than one parameter, it should be the same type specifier for all of them, i.e. only applicable to predicates, copying, arithmetic and things like that, not useful most of the times one wants several specializers. 3. Worse of all, instead of just adopting a left-to-right precedence rule, one that looks very ugly was added, increasing the complexity of a document that is already big enough. In '95, at VRAI we refocused our application from AI-oriented to (soft) real-time. I grabbed the 9X specs, and the initial excitement turned to dissapointment (the prototype was in CLOS). Moving would have not only meant losing a lot in flexibility, but, worse of all, we would move only from being third-class to second-class citizens (SGI platform). And I would have rather dedicate the extra effort to CL. So after a little successful experience, and given the simpler requirements, we went with C++. Needless to say, the project became a death march. You don't go with C++ unless you can afford paying 5-10 times more for a lot less functionality. -- Fernando D. Mato Mira Real-Time SW Eng & Networking Advanced Systems Engineering Division CSEM Jaquet-Droz 1 email: matomira AT acm DOT org CH-2007 Neuchatel tel: +41 (32) 720-5157 Switzerland FAX: +41 (32) 720-5720 www.csem.ch www.vrai.com ligwww.epfl.ch/matomira.html