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=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no 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-Thread: 1014db,582dff0b3f065a52 X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,582dff0b3f065a52 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-08-23 10:02:36 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!128.230.129.106!news.maxwell.syr.edu!netnews.com!xfer02.netnews.com!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!news.mindspring.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.c++ Subject: Re: Subtle Bugs, kudos Ada (was How Ada ...Red Code ...) Date: Thu, 23 Aug 2001 10:02:39 -0700 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3B85372F.E8C5BB04@adaworks.com> References: <3B6555ED.9B0B0420@sneakemail.com> <87n15lxzzv.fsf@deneb.enyo.de> <3B672322.B5EA1B66@home.com> <4a885870.0108112341.7ce02ac0@posting.google.com> <3B834E5D.B0D26AB1@adaworks.com> <9lvsic$bet9s$1@ID-9852.news.dfncis.de> <9m0193$grs$1@bird.wu-wien.ac.at> <3B83F042.4CFB073D@home.com> <9m2ibc$4h4$1@s1.read.news.oleane.net> <3b84cf73.1201990748@news.worldonline.nl> Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 9e.fc.c5.de Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 23 Aug 2001 17:00:19 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:12342 comp.lang.c:76474 comp.lang.c++:85194 Date: 2001-08-23T17:00:19+00:00 List-Id: Richard Bos wrote: > The conclusion is obvious. C was designed for professionals; Ada for > amateurs. I am no fan of the C family of languages. However, neither C or C++ are inherently evil. It is simply that they are more fraught with peril than Ada or Modula-X. Dr. Stroustrup did a brilliant job of making C a better, safer language. The inherent peril of C could not be totally eradicated in the C++ model. Subsequent efforts to improve C++ are commendable and progress is evident. Still, the underlying peril persists. Mr. Gosling and his colleagues made some good progress in eliminating some of the perils of C and C++ with their design of Java. Still, many of those underlying perils persist. The fact is that, even with the impressive progress that has been made in the improvement of the C family of languages, they still do not measure up to the inherent safety one finds in Ada. It is very difficult to take a language where the default is unsafe and promote it to one that is more safe. In Ada, the default is "safe" and that is what makes it appropriate for software targeted to applications where lives are at stake. I find it odd that this is so difficult to understand. Perhaps those in the community that favors the C family of languages simply don't know Ada well enough to comprehend the difference. Perhaps they simply have other motives. Whatever the case, no one is going to be persuaded by arguments presented in this forum. C++ will continue to be used successfully for a variety of software applications, as will Ada. Those of of us who prefer Ada will still prefer it. Those who prefer C++ will still choose it over Ada. Those who wish to rush off to the latest fad will choose Ruby, Erlang, C#, Java, or whatever they, as early adopters, find interesting. In my mind, choosing the right tool for the right job is important. For anything safety-related, Ada is still the right choice. For anything else, I have no serious objection to using C++. It is a pretty well-designed attempt at overcoming the perils of C. Meanwhile, there is someone, in some lab somewhere inventing the safety-critical successor to Eiffel that will take the industry by storm and make everything we currently favor obsolete. Richard Riehle richard@adaworks.com http://www.adaworks.com