Re: C++ STL Components and Ada

["Jon Orris" <jonorris@ieee.org>]

"James Rogers" <jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:3B5450EF.7D82CCF5@worldnet.att.net...
> Brian Rogoff wrote:
> > I wouldn't say they're the best thing since the invention of fire, but
C++
> > templates allow all sorts of interesting things, almost like macros, but
> > linked with the type system. They provide a crude form of parametric
> > polymorphism which doesn't have the overhead associated with typical
> > implementations of polymorphic languages. I can easily imagine an
Ada-like
> > language which steals some nice aspects of C++ templates.
> >
>
> C++ templates also have the disadvantage that their instantiations
> cannot
> be checked by the compiler. Instead, you must deal with runtime errors
> when making simple mistakes such as filling a container with values
> of Animal and then trying to read them out as values of Mineral.

Could you provide an example of what you mean here? I've seen this claim
before, and have been unable to think of how this would occur. I've never
had this sort of issue crop up when developing in C++.

Jon Orris
jonorris@ieee.org