Limited Use Clause

[rracine@AJPO.SEI.CMU.EDU]

Yet again the "use" clause is maligned.  I did not get the author or the
posting to include here, but the jist of the comment is that the 'use'
clause should not be used (no reasons were given) and a more specific
kind of 'use' clause should be available in Ada 9x.

That is beginning to be the same as the statement "Ada tasking is too slow."
People have said it so long (since it used to be true) that it is accepted
without any arguments.  Why not use the unrestricted 'use'?  The only
reason I have heard that can not be refuted is that it makes it hard to tell
where to find things in source code.  That argument is not a language issue,
however.  It is a Programming Support Environment issue.  The compiler
knows where the various procedures are declared.  Why can't it give us a
cross-reference listing at the end of each compilation?  

In the meantime, at least DEC has provided some tools that give some of
this functionality, and I believe that there are some PC-based tools that 
allow one to find references to identifiers.

Saying "Don't use 'use'" tells me a lot about a project.  It is not using
a sufficient APSE.  It has people who complain about Ada, since they 
probably have difficulty reading their code.  And they are probably behind
schedule, for similar reasons.

I hope this generates some discussion.

Roger Racine
C. S. Draper Laboratory, Inc.