From: Matthew Woodcraft <mattheww@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Subject: Re: Examples in Docs, was Re: Escape Sequences in Strings
Date: 17 Jan 2001 22:10:32 +0000
Date: 2001-01-17T22:10:32+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <871yu16d9j.fsf@chiark.greenend.org.uk> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 942vqr$sd0$1@nnrp1.deja.com
Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com> writes:
> In the case of a language definition, examples indeed convey
> no information that cannot be derived from the definition
> proper (unless the definition is incomplete). Yes, they may
> be helpful in understanding, but they do not have any
> non-derivable information.
There's also the case where the definition is buggy. If examples were given
normative force (saying 'this code is legal, and has such-and-such an
effect'), they could change a consistent but undesirable definition to an
inconsistent one.
To continue the stretched analogies between language definitions and code,
they could act as 'assertions'.
I don't know how errata in the Ada standard are dealt with, but I can
imagine a case where the language designers could be stuck with a meaning
they didn't intend (making some construct effectively unusable, for
example), but be unable to change it because the standard as published was
consistent and unambiguous. An example of the construct as they had intended
it to be used would prevent this occurring.
-M-
next prev parent reply other threads:[~2001-01-17 22:10 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 94+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2000-11-15 0:00 Escape Sequences in Strings Jean Cohen
2000-11-15 0:00 ` John English
2000-11-15 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-15 0:00 ` Ehud Lamm
2000-11-16 0:00 ` John English
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Tarjei T. Jensen
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Ken Garlington
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Keith Thompson
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-15 0:00 ` Preben Randhol
2000-11-15 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Ada Streams usage (was Escape Sequences in Strings) Marc A. Criley
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Ted Dennison
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Ted Dennison
2000-11-16 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
[not found] ` <igh81t8b3hdrsc167do6qr0h1joa73c1jr@borpin.co.uk>
2000-11-18 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-18 0:00 ` David Kristola
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-20 0:00 ` Brian Orpin
2000-11-20 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Ted Dennison
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-20 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
2000-11-21 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-20 0:00 ` Randy Brukardt
2000-11-21 0:00 ` Ted Dennison
2000-11-21 0:00 ` Randy Brukardt
2000-11-21 1:31 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-21 1:33 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-21 0:00 ` Randy Brukardt
2000-11-22 5:00 ` Robert Dewar
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Ted Dennison
2000-11-19 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-12 13:18 ` Escape Sequences in Strings Andrew Hately
2001-01-12 20:03 ` Keith Thompson
2001-01-18 8:29 ` Lao Xiao Hai
2001-01-18 15:22 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-18 22:43 ` Randy Brukardt
2001-01-21 11:54 ` Dale Stanbrough
2001-01-21 22:35 ` directly accessing DOS screen memory (was: Re: Escape Sequences in Strings) Jeffrey Carter
2001-01-12 19:37 ` Escape Sequences in Strings tmoran
2001-01-13 1:38 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-13 6:48 ` tmoran
2001-01-13 18:36 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-16 3:30 ` Examples in Docs, was " peter_richtmyer
2001-01-16 5:42 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-16 20:44 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-16 22:43 ` Larry Kilgallen
2001-01-17 15:06 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-17 2:25 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-17 15:28 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-17 16:20 ` Brian Rogoff
2001-01-17 18:04 ` Wayne Lydecker
2001-01-17 19:23 ` BSCrawford
2001-01-18 0:15 ` Jerry Petrey
2001-01-19 0:01 ` tmoran
2001-01-18 3:44 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-18 16:45 ` Brian Rogoff
2001-01-18 19:53 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-18 22:58 ` Georg Bauhaus
2001-01-19 16:40 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-19 7:49 ` Learning methods Anders Wirzenius
2001-01-19 18:57 ` Examples in Docs, was Re: Escape Sequences in Strings mark_lundquist
2001-01-21 12:05 ` Dale Stanbrough
2001-01-21 15:35 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-17 22:10 ` Matthew Woodcraft [this message]
2001-01-18 3:52 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-16 16:06 ` Examples in Docs Robert C. Leif, Ph.D.
2001-01-16 21:29 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-18 0:50 ` Randy Brukardt
2001-01-18 16:46 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-18 17:24 ` J. David Bryan
2001-01-17 2:43 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-17 21:17 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D.
2001-01-16 20:01 ` Examples in Docs, was Re: Escape Sequences in Strings mark_lundquist
2001-01-17 10:59 ` Peter Richtmyer
2001-01-19 18:55 ` mark_lundquist
2001-01-20 14:24 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-20 14:36 ` Preben Randhol
2001-01-20 15:00 ` Robert Dewar
2001-01-21 11:24 ` Preben Randhol
2001-01-22 14:47 ` Ted Dennison
2001-01-22 20:08 ` Preben Randhol
2001-01-22 20:14 ` Preben Randhol
2001-01-20 19:02 ` Stephen Leake
2001-01-20 19:50 ` Georg Bauhaus
2001-01-21 11:35 ` Preben Randhol
2001-01-22 23:58 ` Mark Lundquist
2001-01-27 1:43 ` Increasing the readability of Ada was RE: Examples in Docs Robert C. Leif, Ph.D.
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