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 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,8623fab5750cd6aa X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public Path: g2news1.google.com!news1.google.com!news.glorb.com!prodigy.com!atl-c02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!border1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!elnk-atl-nf1!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net.POSTED!d9c68f36!not-for-mail Message-ID: <40D189E3.3070101@noplace.com> From: Marin David Condic User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.0.1) Gecko/20020823 Netscape/7.0 (OEM-HPQ-PRS1C03) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Improving Ada's image - Was: 7E7 Flight Controls Electronics References: <40CF734C.7020108@noplace.com> <7iLzc.97433$3x.15169@attbi_s54> <40D03317.1080903@noplace.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 12:09:50 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 209.165.2.234 X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net 1087474190 209.165.2.234 (Thu, 17 Jun 2004 05:09:50 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 17 Jun 2004 05:09:50 PDT Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:1612 Date: 2004-06-17T12:09:50+00:00 List-Id: Brian May wrote: > I don't think so... > > You are comparing an incredibly poorly designed, poorly written, > insecure application written in C (I assume), with presumably a > properly designed and written application in Ada. > > To conclude that the second one is better then the first because of > the choice of language is a bit misleading IMHO. In fact, my guess is > a number of the security flaws in Outlook would also occur in Ada. > eg. look at the JavaScript related security issues. > You are missing the point. I'm not comparing Outlook to a theoretical Ada-Outlook. Outlook is merely an example of a type of app that someone might imagine a better way of doing. Its an e-mail/news-reader/address-book and probably a few other things as well. It has weaknesses at a conceptual level that someone might be able to dream up a better way of doing. (Like not having it try to do all these different jobs all in the same package) > > Do you load these units at compile time, start-up time (when > application starts), or on demand (eg. when user selects address > book)? > > Loading units at compile time is fast and efficient as far as the user > is concerned, but means recompiling for adding a new unit. The other > options are more flexible as far as the user is concerned, but may > result in slower execution while the units load and initialize, and > may require more overhead to keep track of the different units at > run-time. Now you're running off and designing it without really knowing what to design. Start with a list: "What I don't like about the way Office does what it does..." When you get done with that list, start another list: "The capabilities, features, functions, options, etc. that I would put into a similar app if I was the Product Manager for Outlook..." When you've done that, you're a considerable step closer to deciding if it is going to be one monolithic app or an install-time-configurable app or a half a dozen independent apps. In between the lists and deciding what the app(s) should generally look like, it might be a good idea to do a little "Marketing Survey" to try to see if your concepts of what is wrong with Outlook and what you'd like to see in an alternative are things that are generally shared by enough of the rest of the world to make sure you're not trying to build an app nobody wants. MDC -- ====================================================================== Marin David Condic I work for: http://www.belcan.com/ My project is: http://www.jsf.mil/NSFrames.htm Send Replies To: m o d c @ a m o g c n i c . r "Face it ladies, its not the dress that makes you look fat. Its the FAT that makes you look fat." -- Al Bundy ======================================================================