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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 10d15b,d730ea9d54f7e063 X-Google-Attributes: gid10d15b,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,dab7d920e4340f12 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,dab7d920e4340f12 X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public From: Craig Franck Subject: Re: C is 'better' than Ada because... Date: 1996/08/15 Message-ID: <4utuag$ii9@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 174264647 references: <31EA0B65.3EF8@wgs.estec.esa.nl> <31EF7E48.5ABE@lmtas.lmco.com> <4ss8ru$3d4@felix.seas.gwu.edu> <31F28DBD.2A1D@harris.com> <31f3c52e.238719470 <4tnoeh$qjr@maverick.tad.eds.com> <4uj42h$j06@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net> <4um1l9$klq@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net> content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii organization: AT&T WorldNet Services mime-version: 1.0 newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.cobol x-mailer: Mozilla 1.22ATT (Windows; U; 16bit) Date: 1996-08-15T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: jsa@alexandria (Jon S Anthony) wrote: >In article <4ur9ii$7r4@mtinsc01-mgt.ops.worldnet.att.net> Craig Franck writes: >> It's first spefication, I believe, was DOD-1. This > >??? Where'd you come up with this one??? The original Ada did have a >Mil Std reference # (in addition to ANSI and ISO #s), which happened >to be 1815 (year or Ada's birth). Norman Cohen's fine book on the Ada programing langauage states that "In April 1975, the Higher Order Language Working Group issued a set of sample requirements for DoD-1". I clearly miss spoke when I called this a specification. The working requirement were refined and given the names (colorfully enough) Strawman, Woodenman, Tinman, Ironman, and Steeleman. These requirement led up to the Ada programming language, but you are right, these should not be confused with official standardized specifications. I have often wondered if Jack Cooper picked Ada Augusta to name the language after because, while she is considered by some to be the first programmer, all the other names in the requirements were masculine. If so, the name might be a pun of sorts, like C++ "incrementing" C's capabilities. >Ada is technically _very_ good (nothing to do with software is >excellent) and I have said in the past that the worst thing to happen >to Ada was the government. Because of all these goofy perception >problems. Of course, the flip side is that it wouldn't have happened >without the government either. Yes, to the informed many misinfored perceptions appear goofy! I think if more books on Ada were available to the general programming public, these perceptions would change. In a recent trip to a book store I counted 280 books with C/C++ in the title (it's a big Barnes & Noble) and just 4 on Ada. Only 1 of which had Ada 95 in the title. Fortunately there are abundant resources on the Internet. I think it's true that with Ada, having been a Pascal programmer helps you to master the syntax. One of the complaints I have heard from C/C++ programmers is that you have to write procedure or function; why can't the compiler just figure out what you are doing from the syntax? This I think lies at the hart of some of peoples dislike for the wordiness of the language. I have never understood the use of the keyword "is" to help the parse, and why attributes are implemented the way they are, but after you have learned the language, the syntactic style is much less important than what you can do with it. I think that multitasking being implemented at the language level as well as module linkage, is a big plus and separates it from C/C++. It comes with an over head, and I am not making any judgements as to which language is better by saying this. Craig ----- clfranck@worldnet.att.net Manchester, NH There are no electrons...