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=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2afac1a4161c7f35 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Brian Rogoff Subject: Re: Distinguishing type names from other identifiers Date: 1998/01/16 Message-ID: #1/1 X-Deja-AN: 316711072 References: <884736089.2104295427@dejanews.com> <69lael$90o@top.mitre.org> <01bd2207$18f3fac0$95fc82c1@xhv46.dial.pipex.com> <69nt40$q7n@top.mitre.org> Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-Trace: 885001089 3877 bpr 206.184.139.132 Mime-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1998-01-16T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: On 16 Jan 1998, Robert Dewar wrote: > This is apples and oranges. Of course everyone agrees that code should > be written in a clear manner avoiding nasty things etc etc, but you cannot > legislate good code by automatic rules. > > On the other hand, uniformity of syntax is NOT about reducing bugs. It is > about creating a code base that everyone in the group feels comfortable > with, so that you avoid the phenomenon, all too common I am afraid in many > large projects, of individuals "owning" pieces of the code and (a) not > wanting anyone else to mess with their parts and (b) not being willing to > mess with other peoples code. It is this attitude, apparently very common amongst Ada programmers, and espoused regularly on this newsgroup, that makes me like the Ada community more than any other. While I haven't been around as long as Robert Dewar, and disagree with him on the "_T" as noise assessment :-), his characterization of the way many software projects mismanaged is eerily familiar to me, and his prescription for solving some of these problems by firing the losers who have to do things their way seems eminently reasonable. It is also, unfortunately, contrary to the way most projects I've worked in are run. It's this kind of post that will turn me into an Ada fanatic :-) -- Brian