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: 103376,5cb36983754f64da X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2004-02-07 08:52:12 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news.tele.dk!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!news2.telebyte.nl!teleglobe.net!teleglobe.net!62.81.31.29.MISMATCH!cyclone.auna.com!twister.auna.com!53ab2750!not-for-mail From: Jano Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: No call for it Message-ID: References: <20040206174017.7E84F4C4114@lovelace.ada-france.org> X-Newsreader: MicroPlanet Gravity v2.50 Date: Sat, 7 Feb 2004 17:51:21 +0100 NNTP-Posting-Host: 212.97.170.147 X-Trace: twister.auna.com 1076172729 212.97.170.147 (Sat, 07 Feb 2004 17:52:09 MET) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 07 Feb 2004 17:52:09 MET Organization: AUNA TLC Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:5314 Date: 2004-02-07T17:51:21+01:00 List-Id: Carroll-Tech dice... > I tell the students that I tutor that learning some Pascal or Ada would help > them and they get scared. I mention doing a project in Ada and everyone > looks at me like I'm out to punish myself. To me it isn't any easier to use > C/C++, Java, Perl, Lisp or Prolog than it is to use Ada. How is it that Ada > has this "super powerful", "super difficult", "there's not much call for it > because it's too advanced and powerful" air about it when it's just another > language? It's like saying that the machine code spit out of an Ada > compiler has some mystical, magical properties that makes the Ada language > more difficult to use. I can tell you my personal experience. My first tries at Ada where painful: For a start, it was hard (comparatively to other languages anyway) to get your program compiled... these damn compiler complaining about anything. Then, I was always getting "constraint_error" and such. Mind you, in C these errors could go unnoticed for quite some time. In the end, when you get used to the Ada way, you realize how productive it makes you, but at first it was exactly as you depict it. I've always said: Ada doesn't catch with the general populace because isn't a language for everyone: it requires extra-discipline and other qualities from the programmer. It's like fast-food and sane food: everyone knows the later is better, but not everyone has the will to renounce to the first. In the 20/80 rule, Ada is for the better 20% of the programmers... or so I like to think ;)