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Date: Mon, 07 Feb 2011 19:10:12 +0100
From: Georg Bauhaus <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de>
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Subject: Re: How do I write directly to a memory address?
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Date: 2011-02-07T19:10:12+01:00
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On 07.02.11 16:21, Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:

>> It means that Ada function Ada.Numerics.Discrete_Random.Random
>> only works because it violates its "contract".  The parameter (a
>> generator object) is passed "in", but is modified. Its mutation
>> is one effect of calling function Random.
> 
> Wrong. You might have an implementation of Random backed by the hardware in
> which case Random would have no internal state whatsoever.

An implementation does not specify the language. By the language,
Random relies on the fact that whenever it is finished, it will
deliver the "next" value ("from its generator").  The state of a
Generator can be saved and restored, so the notion of its state
is meaningful in the abstract.
Since we are discussion the effects of subprogram specs on programmer
intuition, Random's parameter Gen being of mode "in" is at odds with
the usual meaning of "in".