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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,54c513170bafd693 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Gautier Subject: Re: Desirability of C++ Date: 2000/05/01 Message-ID: <390D58F9.7CC64B85@maths.unine.ch>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 617794131 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <01HW.B4BFC2820005B06B08A24140@news.pacbell.net> <20000204073443.24976.00001288@ng-ci1.aol.com> <87euk0$c93$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <01HW.B4C1346100072D2408A24140@news.pacbell.net> <949867976.281549@the-rowan.albatross.co.nz> <8766v93w66.fsf@deneb.cygnus.argh.org> <38E8C81A.AA62CF4C@HiWAAY.net> <7EA1B852F5D4D8C6.26EEE9181C80F0DF.0161EA2D9C353253@lp.airnews.net> <01HW.B51C1B6E00F41C2D04BB51B0@news.pacbell.net> <38F796B2.A99A206A@ftw.rsc.raytheon.com> <38F7A27A.4F7729FA@raytheon.com> <8eclae$afj$1@slb7.atl.mindspring.net> <4F706057FEE2A550.BF5FE19AE279EFCD.A55706B3F9D07043@lp.airnews.net> <8eiv08$820$1@slb1.atl.mindspring.net> <390D001C.7433140B@netwood.net> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: 1 May 2000 12:14:17 +0100, mac13-32.unine.ch Organization: Maths - Uni =?iso-8859-1?Q?Neuch=E2tel?= MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-05-01T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: "E. Robert Tisdale": > Still, the fact is that Ada has been on life support from the start. > It doesn't seem to have much of a future. These noises are the "strange attractor" that always tends to bring programming languages back to the 1960s. Interesting to compare with the evolution of hardware that is boosted by true comparisons... > Fewer people are learning and using Ada > so it is harder to justify investment in really good > optimizing Ada compilers. Too late, they exist! (OK: some of them are still Ada83) > Consequently, you can hardly blame frustrated programmers > for abandoning Ada in favor of C++. Could C++ functions return things other than an integer or a pointer, or would there a simple way in C++ to make arrays with bounds but no OO bloat, the frustration about performance would be in the direction you mention. No, seriously, it's rather a problem of "pointy hair bosses" who read more the words "C++" or "Java" in magazines - or maybe the lack of a really sexy "Ada Visual Builder++" from Microsoft. Again, nothing with performance... > Of course, C++ in its present form cannot be the final answer. > Perhaps it can evolve into a more robust language > which supports all of the safety features of Ada. > Stronger type checking > and support for concurrent programming > might be a good place to start. Then a more advanced modularity, increased features for types other than the basic ones and a more readable syntax - important. I'm sure C2010 will ressemble much to a known language ;-) > Nothing, not even a programming language, lives forever. Mmmmh you are killing a bit early these almost eternal languages: - COBOL (now OO, script, versions in SAP) - Fortran (now Visual compilers for PC, parallelised for supercomputers, soon a Fortran 200X with generics and maybe OO!) and: - that famous macro-assembler... Hey, what's its name ? It served to make Unix... I really can't remember its name... You know, they made a version with a "++"... _____________________________________________ Gautier -- http://members.xoom.com/gdemont/