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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,bc1361a952ec75ca X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-08-01 08:48:40 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!headwall.stanford.edu!feeder.via.net!cyclone-sf.pbi.net!206.13.28.144!news.pacbell.net.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3B6825C7.18C6A813@sneakemail.com> From: Russ <18k11tm001@sneakemail.com> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.77 [en] (X11; U; Linux 2.4.3-20mdk i686) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: How to make Ada a dominant language References: <3B6555ED.9B0B0420@sneakemail.com> <9ff447f2.0107301653.c8f5e94@posting.google.com> <3B6624E6.DF734E5C@sneakemail.com> <9ff447f2.0107311725.5af099ae@posting.google.com> <3B6784C6.200B0B47@sneakemail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 08:52:39 -0700 NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.194.87.148 X-Complaints-To: abuse@pacbell.net X-Trace: news.pacbell.net 996680919 63.194.87.148 (Wed, 01 Aug 2001 08:48:39 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 08:48:39 PDT Organization: SBC Internet Services Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:10949 Date: 2001-08-01T08:52:39-07:00 List-Id: Preben Randhol wrote: > > On Tue, 31 Jul 2001 21:25:42 -0700, Russ wrote: > > Adrian Hoe wrote: > > >> Which is clearer? The use of ":=" has the purposeful meaning in > >> avoiding confusions in apes like us. Certainly, there is no big deal > >> with a compiler. > > > > Good. Then let the compiler warn you. > > That is not a good idea. > > 1. Programmers (read hackers) tend to ignore the warnings while developing I used the word "warn" in a loose sense. What I meant was to not let the fricking program compile. This is really a trivial "problem" that everyone seems to be determined to trip over. > 2. Bogus or too many warnings will make the programmer stop paying > attention to them, like a fire alarm that goes off often without > there being any fire. OK, then get rid of those useless semicolons that constantly nag you. > 3. I don't see any gain what so ever in removing _one_ character as > it clearly reduces readability as seen in a previous post. If it is > so hard to type :=, then make a macro and put it on a shortcut. You're missing the point again. The typing is not the issue. Clutter is the issue. > Just wait until you have coded a bit. Another feature of Ada that you > might not like in the beginning, but later love, is the strictness of > the language which subsequently will give you a lot more errors at > compile time, and very few at runtime. The compiler will usually also > help you understand your mistake with meaningful error messages. Whereas > when I tried C++ briefly, I managed to compile the program, but they > usually failed to run or a lot of runtime errors popped up. "Now why > is this an advantage" one might think, because one will spend a lot > of time debugging to track down a small error one made somewhere in > the code, which would probably be caugth by the compilor. You could have > fixed it in seconds. When you get more used to Ada you tend to make > fewer and fewer mistakes. I love the strictness of the language already. But there is a major difference between strictness and unnecessary clutter, and too many Ada programmers don't seem to be able to distinguish between the two. Russ