Re: friend classes in ada95

[Robert Dewar <robert_dewar@my-deja.com>]

In article <38FE442C.92F7C2B3@earthlink.net>,
  "Robert I. Eachus" <rieachus@earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> As near as I can remember, the four alternatives discussed
> were: no change, allow trailing underscores, allow leading and
> trailing underscores and treat underscore as if it was a
> letter.  Since no concensus
> developed behind any change, the result was to stand pat.

Again, your memory is flawed here, you should check the minutes
of the Salem meeting. In particular, the rejection was nothing
to do with lack of consensus behind any one scheme, but rather
to do with dislike for the whole idea. In particular you should
be able to recall the fierce opposition of the French delegation
on this point :-)

> I personally think that the silliest part of this discussion
> was on allowing leading underscores, and I think that was what
> killed the most general alternative.  But all that is detail.

Yes, and incorrect detail at that, this was not at ALL the
dynamics of the discussion. In particular, perhaps you can
recall the strong point that was made that with modern
variable width type fonts, it is hard to tell how many
underscores are in a sequence of underscores ... that was
the primary French objection to the motion.
>
>
>  I do not feel that it would have fit nearly as
> well with Jean's grammar, and would have required more
semantic work.

I disagree

> It was an extremely close call to even consider allowing the
language
> design team to even work on this,

This is a completely incorrect memory, there was no close call.
Just look at the minutes!



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