Re: How (or Where?) to get started on Ada? (Properly)

[Mike H <postmaster@ada-augusta.demon.co.uk>]

In message <7b8fb992-9fdb-48d2-8613-92e234e46f00@googlegroups.com>, 
e.s.harney@gmail.com writes
>I'm not aware of any (strongly typed) language that pulls this off 
>without messing up one way or the other
To say that Ada has rigorously strict typing rules is true. But that 
does not prevent type conversions. It merely constrains the programmer 
to declare a type conversion in an explicit manner that can be checked 
at compile time to ensure it is safe and unambiguous.

I can never ever remember a situation where these rules prevented me 
from doing what I needed to do. This is because one has the option of 
overriding the compiler's defaults. A declared type, whether simple or 
composite, can include representation clauses to define the size and bit 
pattern to be used at the level of machine storage. Given appropriate 
representation information, objects of one type may safely converted to, 
or mapped upon, one another.

My 1987 edition of Barnes has a brief introduction to the basics.
-- 
Mike
Swim? Naturally at Severn Vale
<http://www.severnvalesc.org/>