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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,bc1361a952ec75ca X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-07-31 01:17:40 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!newsfeed01.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!newsfeed.germany.net!newsfeed2.easynews.net!easynews.net!news.cid.net!news.enyo.de!news1.enyo.de!not-for-mail From: Florian Weimer Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: How to make Ada a dominant language Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 10:29:56 +0200 Organization: Enyo's not your organization Message-ID: <87n15lxzzv.fsf@deneb.enyo.de> References: <3B6555ED.9B0B0420@sneakemail.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:10841 Date: 2001-07-31T10:29:56+02:00 List-Id: Russ Paielli <18k11tm001@sneakemail.com> writes: >> I prefer the old way, as it is easier to read. > > I'll bet nine out of 10 non-Ada-programmers would disagree with you. I don't think so. A look up variable declarations by variable name, and not their type, so I'm quite glad that the variable name appears at the left. I find it hard to believe that anybody disagrees with that. After all, there is a long tradition of organizing things that way (think of phone books). > And that's part of the reason that nine out of ten programmers (or > whatever) are non-Ada-programmers. Hmm, that's a strange non sequitur in any case. >> Why is it so very important to use = to set a value and then == when you >> check it? I have not understood this. > > Because "=" is the simplest fricking symbol that could possibly be used > for assignment. For most people with a non-FORTRAN background, '=' implies symmetry, but an assignment is not symmetric. > Why is this so hard for Ada programmers to understand? Using '=' to denote anything but equality is confusing because it contradicts the established meaning of that symbol (that's why I don't like the big-oh notation either). > What's so great about ":="? Why not use "$=" or "%="? ':=' was already used to denote assignent even before programming languages existed. > What I am proposing would not make programs "less readable." It would > make them MORE readable, especially for new Ada programmers. I don't think readability is a concern to beginners. Many people learn C just for fun.