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: 103376,474ef6dae6b7cbe7 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-04-28 17:11:38 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!sjc70.webusenet.com!news.webusenet.com!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!harp.news.atl.earthlink.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: the Ada mandate, and why it collapsed and died (was): 64bitaddressing and OOP Date: Mon, 28 Apr 2003 17:11:56 -0700 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3EADC34B.C2649570@adaworks.com> References: Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 41.b2.60.6b Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 29 Apr 2003 00:11:37 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:36710 Date: 2003-04-29T00:11:37+00:00 List-Id: > -----Original Message----- > From: soft-eng [mailto:softeng3456@netscape.net] > > > But having them directly in the language itself makes > > just learning the basic language unnecessarily harder. > > And the trouble is, you don't get anything really > > worthwhile out of all the time you spend on > > mastering all that syntax. You would have > > been better off mastering concepts instead. You are missing an important point, one that very likely is not important to you, but which is important for the development of large-scale, safety-critical software with a programming team. Those built-in features you disparage are designed to work together so the compiler can detect inconsistencies, errors, and omissions. This is not as easy to accomplish with those other languages you favor since there is none of the capability for such thorough checking. For example, Ada has built-in tasking. When using C++, I am required to use external libraries. The C++ environment does not do the kind of careful evaluation of my use of those external libraries that I enjoy in Ada. Therefore, my confidence in the overall compatibility of my design is less than it would be in a system of comparable size in Ada. The level of compiler-based checking possible in Ada does not exist in C++, Java, or most other competing languages. This is why Ada remains the most appropriate language when one is concerned with software safety. Unless you have experience developing in this environment, you are likely to have little appreciation for this level of rigor. Those who have enjoyed Ada's benefits in developing software will attest to its power. Richard Riehle