Re: why learn C?

[<adaworks@sbcglobal.net>]

"Larry Kilgallen" <Kilgallen@SpamCop.net> wrote in message 
news:c82IfUV$xbi8@eisner.encompasserve.org...
> In article <o2cPh.4026$u03.1786@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net>, 
> <adaworks@sbcglobal.net> writes:
>
>> I cannot imagine anyone writing a column
>> called "Obfuscated Ada."
>
> Number_of_Genders_Encountered : Integer;
> Traffic_Light_Color : Boolean;
> Completion_Flag : My_Special_Record_Type_Defined_in_Another_Module;

OK.  With a little effort, one can write obfuscated code in any language. 
However,
with C++ it is far more likely than with Ada.   Further, as your examples 
illustrate,
one needs to really make an effort to do so with Ada.   I recall a project I 
worked
on many hundreds of years ago (it seems that long) where we were using COBOL.
One of the programmers used the names of comic book characters as data and
procedure names throughout his program.   We had constructs such as,

           MOVE BATMAN TO BATMOBILE.

The code worked fine, but it was somewhat obfuscated.

Your last example is particularly interesting.   In the absence of a global
visibility clause (use), one would expect dot notation to disambiguate the
other module.

For your first example, coding standards would certainly apply.   We learned
a long time ago not to use type numeric types in package Standard.   In Ada,
we can define our own data types.  This is not an option in C++ unless one
jumps through hoops.

Finally, using Boolean for Traffic_Light_Color is simply absurd, not 
obfuscation.
There are three colors for a traffic light, and Boolean only covers two.  This 
is
not bad coding, nor is obfuscated code.  Instead, it is bad design.

The "Obfuscated C++" column, which I enjoyed while it lasted, was not
always code that was tormented into a puzzle.  Instead, it was code that
one might actually find someone using on a project.   Sometimes, I could
figure it out through simple reasoning.  Other times, I had to fire up my
trusty C++ compiler to get to the answer.   A couple of times I had to
wait for the following month's installment with the published answer.

In Ada, this kind of thing would be less likely.

Richard Riehle