Re: why learn C?

[<adaworks@sbcglobal.net>]

"Marc Boyer" <Marc.Boyer@enseeiht.yahoo.fr.invalid> wrote in message >
>
>  If you have time to give a long definition of Ada, just do it.
>
Definition is not a word that would apply when one is seeking
a deeper understanding of a subject.   One could provide a
definition of calculus, quantum mechanics, or the word, virus,
but a definition would not provide a deep insight into those
subjects.

Ada is a language designed to maximize the amount of error detection
as early in the development process as possible, and throughout each
subsequent step of that process.

Ada provides the developer with more engineering tools and idioms
for the development of software than one finds in a lot of other
languages.   A source code model, in the form of Ada package
specifications, can be created long before anyone writes any
algorithmic code.   The entire design can be structured and tested
prior to committing too much to small details.   For a large project,
where many thousands of lines of code are required, that project
can be decomposed and distributed over several programming
teams without excessive worry about whether the resulting
code will conform to the design.

Unlike the C family of languages, which are generally no help at all,
an Ada compiler frequently eliminates the need for extensive debugging
of silly errors; e.g., the kind that originate from case-sensitivity, wrong
order of arguments to parameters, improper spacing, missing curly-braces,
and the plethora of language "features" that plague those who have
chosen to use any member of the C family of languages.

It has always seemed rather odd to me that people who are as intelligent
as programmers, rarely question the silliness of using tools such as C
and C++ for serious work.  They simply take for granted that the kind
of errors that are so common in those languages are somehow akin to
the laws of nature.  Java inherits many of those same properties and
is not much better.   It is taken as an article of faith that programming
involves heavy use of debuggers.  Instead of asking why this is so, they
simply believe it is a fundamental law of programming -- mainly because
the languages they have chosen make it so.

Ada is a programming language that makes it easier to focus on the design
before dealing with the details of that design.  Then, Ada  makes it easier to
ensure that the details conform to the design.  I wonder why that is such
a difficult concept for so many.

Richard Riehle

     It always amazes me that someone would choose an error-prone
     programming language such as C++ and expect error-free programs.