Re: The greatest feature of the language is ....

[Lao Xiao Hai <laoxhai@ix.netcom.com>]

Wes Groleau wrote:

> Suppose someone wanted to invent a new language.

People are inventing new languages all the time.   Most recently,
Microsoft has introduced a new language call C#, pronounced
C Sharp.    Because Microsoft has its money behind the success
of this language, it will probably become important.  This is Bill
Gates' opening salvo against Java.   It will probably be a success.
Then again, IBM, with all its market clout in the "Sixties" could
not promote the dominance of PL/I.   Who knows?

C# still has C-family syntax, but has eliminated a lot of the C-family
semantics.  The famous,  if (i = 0) ..., that has plagued every C
language dialect is now illegal in C#.    The designers of C# have
placed other restrictions on the compiler.   There are even explicit
out mode parameters in function calls.  Gone is multiple inheritance.
When I discussed the disappearance of MI with a C#-aware person
from Microsoft, he noted that MI is probably still a research topic.

C# has added more accessibility levels, cleaned up many of the C++
problems with pointers, has a more Ada-like model for importing
compiled library units, and lots of other features that will look familiar
to the Ada programmer.

The enemy may have been C++, but that was  an easy target
because of is messy rules, absurd syntax, and crazy semantics.  The
challenge for Ada, in the future, may be C#, a language characterized
by more rigor and greater reliability that we have seen in other members
of the C family of languages.

C# will be included in the Visual Studio release 7.   It is going to be an
important language.

Richard Riehle