From: att-out!cbnewsl!willett@rutgers.edu (david.c.willett)
Subject: Re: Ada and C++: A request for comparison/contrast/relative benefits
Date: 11 Aug 93 14:14:31 GMT [thread overview]
Message-ID: <CBLM8A.GMy@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> (raw)
>From article <1993Aug10.185341.10437@mksol.dseg.ti.com>, by mccall@mksol.dseg.
ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539):
> In <2465ea$gjg@truffula.fp.trw.com> erwin@trwacs.fp.trw.com (Harry Erwin) wri
tes:
>
{Deletia}
>
> Why are there so many Ada proponents who can't 'defend' their language
> except by bashing others? That approach seems to reflect more on Ada
> than it does on the languages that most of the (mis)statements get
> made about.
I've found myself guilty of that when speaking to members of
an "extreme" language culture. I've been exposed to two,
both languages begin with the same letter, and one of them
was Cobol :^).
The difficulty I usually have is convincing the other
folks to separate "architectural" concerns from language
syntax. For instance, Ada tasks aren't the same thing as
"child" processes, but in a Unix shop, that's how tasking
is often viewed. Generally, I struggle to be fair and try
to roll with the punches.
>
> How often do you hear a proponent of C++ justify his choice of
> language purely on the basis of how disgusting some other language is?
> This is a 'disease' that appears to be pretty much a product of the
> Ada world. *I* don't think Ada is so bad that this is the only
> 'defense' that can be made of it, and it's not even my favorite
> language. Why so many who choose Ada first who can't find anything
> better to say about Ada than that C is bad?
I agree this strategy is a mistake. It's confrontational and
doesn't recognize that in some ways C is superior to anything,
including Ada. To paraphrase a proverb, "Every language has
its application domain." Having said that, I have to say that
some C disciples get my back up when they contend that "All you
need to do is enforce good programming standards/discipline and
you can do that in C". They miss the point that Ada is trying
to use the compiler to enforce such conventions. The jury is
still out on whether that's a good idea, but it's an idea which
demands a fair hearing that I don't think it's getting.
>
{Fred's sig deleted -- here's mine}
####### ########## ######
Dave Willett AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies
Shoulda been a cowboy Stealin' a young girl's heart
Shoulda learned to rope & ride Just like Gene & Roy
Wearing my six-shooter Singin' those camp fire songs
Ridin' my pony -- on a cattle drive! Shoulda been a cowboy...
next reply other threads:[~1993-08-11 14:14 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 27+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1993-08-11 14:14 david.c.willett [this message]
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
1993-08-31 17:09 Ada and C++: A request for comparison/contrast/relative benefits dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!spool.mu.edu!darwin.sura.net!uvaarpa!software.org!sm
1993-08-21 5:30 Gregory Aharonian
1993-08-20 17:39 cis.ohio-state.edu!magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexa
1993-08-20 16:17 cis.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!source.asset.com!v
1993-08-19 20:11 Wes Groleau x1240 C73-8
1993-08-18 22:42 agate!spool.mu.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!darwi
1993-08-18 18:16 cis.ohio-state.edu!news.sei.cmu.edu!ajpo.sei.cmu.edu!progers
1993-08-18 3:10 news
1993-08-16 16:33 David Emery
1993-08-16 16:33 David Emery
1993-08-16 15:35 Wes Groleau x1240 C73-8
1993-08-16 11:23 news
1993-08-13 17:33 Mark A Biggar
1993-08-13 6:07 Bjorn Kallberg
1993-08-13 3:46 Michael Feldman
1993-08-13 3:40 Michael Feldman
1993-08-13 1:47 Bjarne Stroustrup
1993-08-12 14:56 Robert I. Eachus
1993-08-11 20:46 Dave Griffith
1993-08-11 20:08 cis.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!usc!venice!gumby.dsd.trw.com!truff
1993-08-11 18:57 Wes Groleau x1240 C73-8
1993-08-11 16:55 Robert Dewar
1993-08-11 16:48 Tim Barrios
1993-08-11 13:37 Harry Erwin
1993-08-10 18:53 fred j mccall 575-3539
1993-08-09 18:35 cis.ohio-state.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!usc!venice!gumby.dsd.trw.com!truff
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