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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_20,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,908bd475d3545aad X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Tucker Taft Subject: Re: PL/SQL -> Ada Date: 2000/03/30 Message-ID: <38E3B39D.D722E500@averstar.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 604489269 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <38DD3CA8.BF122672@wa8tzg.org> <38DE46E8.756F5A66@quadruscorp.com> <38DEB5C4.64CACCCC@wa8tzg.org> <38DF90E0.7BE629DD@quadruscorp.com> <38DFFEAE.8C694C4E@wa8tzg.org> <38E0EC54.A38F66CE@quadruscorp.com> <8bql8b$5mc$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <38E2486D.ADB30CCB@quadruscorp.com> <8bu5nd$5l0$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <38E3A49C.94F7FD9@quadruscorp.com> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Complaints-To: usenet@inmet2.burl.averstar.com X-Trace: inmet2.burl.averstar.com 954446750 26228 141.199.8.164 (30 Mar 2000 20:05:50 GMT) Organization: AverStar (formerly Intermetrics) Burlington, MA USA Mime-Version: 1.0 NNTP-Posting-Date: 30 Mar 2000 20:05:50 GMT Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-03-30T20:05:50+00:00 List-Id: "Marin D. Condic" wrote: > Well, I'm thinking of situations where I know *exactly* how many bytes > are occupied by specific items and I have to line those bytes up with > data coming from the outside world, so I can't accept alternative > representations and I can prove beyond any shadow of doubt that the > bytes will in fact fit just like I said they would and for various > language and/or implementation reasons the compiler says "Sorry, Chalie! > No can do." My problem isn't a misconception about the language or its > implementation. My problem is getting what I want out of the compiler. As a user I can sympathize. As a compiler builder, I will say that supporting representation clauses in their full generality is an enormous pain. I frequently look longingly at languages which provide little or no control over representation, and wish I could be so lucky. To give you an analogy which might make you feel sorry for us poor compiler-writer slobs. Imagine a chauffeur and a passenger. The compiler is the chauffeur, and the programmer is the passenger. When there are no representation clauses, you get to tell the chauffeur to drive the car to the store, and that is about it. When there are representation clauses, you get to tell the chauffeur that you want them to put their left foot exactly there, their right foot there, their left index finger here, their right thumb there, and their left pinkie over here. *Now* drive to the store, at exactly the speed I tell you to, with your tires following exactly along the pair of white lines I drew on the road earlier today. In the original scenario, the chauffeur really only needs to know one way to drive, and they can handle all the road hazards that come up in the way they choose. In the second scenario, the passenger is exerting so much control, that the chauffeur must learn a hundred different ways to drive, in millions of different combinations, so they can follow exactly the orders being given by the passenger. Anyway, so much for the compiler writer's soap opera... > MDC > -- > ============================================================= > Marin David Condic - Quadrus Corporation - 1.800.555.3393 > 1015-116 Atlantic Boulevard, Atlantic Beach, FL 32233 > http://www.quadruscorp.com/ > m c o n d i c @ q u a d r u s c o r p . c o m > > ***PLEASE REMOVE THE "-NOSPAM" PART OF MY RETURN ADDRESS*** > > Visit my web site at: http://www.mcondic.com/ > > "Because that's where they keep the money." > -- Willie Sutton when asked why he robbed banks. > ============================================================= -- -Tucker Taft stt@averstar.com http://www.averstar.com/~stt/ Technical Director, Distributed IT Solutions (www.averstar.com/tools) AverStar (formerly Intermetrics, Inc.) Burlington, MA USA