From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,a1ce307c10055549 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-12-11 11:04:01 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!wn13feed!worldnet.att.net!204.127.198.203!attbi_feed3!attbi.com!sccrnsc02.POSTED!not-for-mail From: tmoran@acm.org Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: IBM Acquires Rational Ada References: X-Newsreader: Tom's custom newsreader Message-ID: NNTP-Posting-Host: 12.234.13.56 X-Complaints-To: abuse@attbi.com X-Trace: sccrnsc02 1039633440 12.234.13.56 (Wed, 11 Dec 2002 19:04:00 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 19:04:00 GMT Organization: AT&T Broadband Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2002 19:04:00 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:31702 Date: 2002-12-11T19:04:00+00:00 List-Id: > While I'm all in favor of Ada catching errors up front and I accept that > this means programmers need a mental shift from C to avoid frustration, It's the wrong view that with Ada you must fight with the compiler up front, while while with C your fights are delayed till after compilation. Perhaps Ada compilers should come in two parts: a checker/analyzer, and a code generator. View the checker as a handy tool to get rid of the obvious errors before you even bother compiling to code. Is your program as important as, say, a progress report to your boss? Would you use a spell checker before sending the latter? Or is a spell checker just a useless annoyance? > but a *good* one that hits the shelves 6 months after the competitors > package does is worthless. That's a popular myth. Pioneers get arrows, settlers get land. How long did Visicalc last after Lotus came out? I helped with the first WYSIWYG publishing program on the PC, and it was only a very few years before it ate the dust of much better ones. Or consider the fate of Apple's Newton, which preceded Palm. Who got rich off the WIMP interface? Not Xerox, not Apple, but Microsoft.