Re: Generics - Difference between ADA and Modula--3

["Mark Lundquist" <mark@rational.com>]

David Starner <dvdeug@x8b4e53cd.dhcp.okstate.edu> wrote in message
news:95eumd$8i41@news.cis.okstate.edu...
> >
> >General comparison between Modula-3 and Ada would be interesting,
> >actually. (-:
>
> Like what? I can give a short overview, but I'm not sure it will
> be helpful.

It's helpful to me, since I don't know Modula-3 at all :-)

>[...]
> Ada designers made perfectly type-safe generics. Modula-3 designers looked
> at Ada generics and C++ templates and decided the Ada generics were too
much
> of a PITA and went with a C++-style design that catches mistakes at
link-time
> rather than compile-time.

Oh yeah... link-time errors, no pain there... :-)

> [...]
> Modula-3 compares types by value instead of by name, and introduces brands
> to compensate for that.
>

What does this mean?  Can you explain this one some more?

Thanks,
Mark