Re: Death by analogy Part 2 (was Re: is ada dead?)

[Ed Falis <efalis@mediaone.net>]

> BTW, one time previous when I was looking for available Ada database
> software, I came across a package on the Ada CD-ROM that was developed
> by a branch of the US government (I won't use any names
> because of what I'm going to say)  that wears tin hats and carries
> rifles.  This was some kind of keyed file package that returned data
> according to key using a linear search of the entire file for each
> request.  Whether this was first implemented to work with a tape drive,
> IDK.  Nothing about this is paranormal, but that it was written this
> way, and made available as a reusable component, and published on the
> Ada CD is a little bit different from what one would expect from reading
> too much CLA, where Ada renames Superb. But maybe the story for Ada is
> not that different from the story for everything else.
>
> Al

Reminds me of the time ;-)

... when we had a fire to put out with a customer because their database
system was killing the compiler.  Took a look at the thing, which had
gratuitous, nearly recursive, instantiation of generics.  Asked the
customer where they got that code.  "Oh, it was something we got out of one
of the repositories".  "Talked to the author"?  "I'll check".

Turns out that the code that got put into this system was designed by the
author as a compiler stress test for generics.  Turning a layer or two of
instantiation inside out fixed the problem.

Who was saying something about management vs language?

- Ed