Re: Ada requires too much typing!

[Georg Bauhaus <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de>]

On 26.05.10 14:57, Peter C. Chapin wrote:

> One of the people on that group posted this comment related to the fact that
> Java requires public/private access specifiers on methods whereas Scala uses
> public by default. Thus in the "common" case of a public method you don't
> have to type the word 'public'...

In this particular case of writing "public" or not, there is an
interesting point. If you allow defaults, then omitting access
specifiers should mean "public", not anything else. The reason
is that this default forces programmers to get their publicly
announced subprograms right, semantically, to be called by just
anyone.

Ideally, of course. I don't know whether lazy use of a keyboard
enables programmers to use the few seconds to get the interface right.

Ada in a sense makes specifying access (syntactically) simpler:
everything before "private" is public, without mention.
That leaves a question: is specifying access using visibility
rules and child packages artistry? ;-)

Anyway, if understanding text requires more than linear
reading, there are arguments in favor of conciseness.
UML or any other "bird's eye view" tool show the usefulness
of seeing relations between pieces of source text in one place.