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From: Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com>
Subject: Re: ada writing guide
Date: 2000/04/15
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In article <8d82lq$4fp$1@hobbes2.crc.com>,
  "David C. Hoos, Sr." <david.c.hoos.sr@ada95.com> wrote:

> http://www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/GNU/standards_toc.html
>
> This provides a coding stabndard for C, which could be
considered "strict."


The most important word here is "a" as in "a" coding standard.

That's the point, there are of course lots of local standards
for writing code in any language (any big COBOL shop for
example will have a detailed document specifying coding
standards, and many Ada shops certainly have such documents
[ACT certainly has a fairly comprehensive document of this
type].

Yes, and of course such documents exist in C shops, the GNU
project does indeed attempt (fairly successfully) to enforce
a single consistent style.

But this is a very different from having "the" standard coding
style.

Languages of course differ in their approach. Some languages
try to leave little lattitude (e.g. in COBOL, the margins for
entering text are fixed, and identifier casing is fixed etc).
Most recent languages have completely free form syntax.

Freedom is good and bad in this context, good because it does
not mandate choices that are really not a necessary part of
the standard, bad because it leads to inconsistencies.

The Ada standard tried to steer a compromise course, of leaving
freedom, but implying preferred choices.


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