Re: FORTRAN bug(was Re: C++ vs. Ada -- Is Ada loosing?)

[munnari.oz.au!cs.mu.OZ.AU!munta.cs.mu.OZ.AU!fjh@uunet.uu.net (Fergus Jam es HENDERSON)]

obry@flash.bellcore.com (Pascal Obry) writes:

>I like Ada because you can *read* it. And this seem to be one of the most
>important thing about a language. With goods choices for the identifier, you
>can read an Ada progam like a text, you don't have to translate what you read.
>
>You write a program one time, but how many time you read it ?

When learning a foreign language, there is a critical point at which you
cease translating from the foreign tongue into your own and back again,
and start to *think* in the foreign language.

The same is true of programming languages. After a very short span of time,
you start to *think* in terms of the constructs that your programming
language offers. Once this point is reached, using symbols instead of
words makes very little difference to the readability. Indeed the more
verbose form may often be less readable. We all learn how to read
mathematical equations - would you prefer that they be spelt out using
"plus" instead of "+", etc.? If you want a language where programs read
like text, try COBOL. Personally I believe that many common programming
language constructs are better expressed symbolically.

-- 
Fergus Henderson             fjh@munta.cs.mu.OZ.AU      
This .signature virus is a self-referential statement that is true - but 
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