Re: pointer questions

["Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam@spam.com>]

Marc A. Criley wrote:

> I agree.  The Ada projects I've worked on, from flight simulators, to command
> and control systems, to data analysis tools, to software development tools,
> have all made use of pointers, some more than others.  There's so much
> dynamic activity going on, often with no way to know in advance just what to
> expect in terms of configuration, ordering, etc.

For $2500/day or part thereof, with a minimum charge of 5 days, I'm sure I could 
tell you how to eliminate many of those pointers :)

> In some thread that once touched on this subject, I vaguely recall someone
> saying one shouldn't use pointers, instead an appropriate container should be
> used.  Okay, so the pointers are being wrapped in a container.  That's not
> what I'd call "not needing pointers", they're just not out in plain sight.

Perhaps it would be more accurate to say that one will rarely need to declare or
manipulate pointers directly, but saying one will rarely need pointers is more
succinct, and more in line with what things look like to someone who is reusing 
a dynamic data structure package.

Of course, "rarely" is not "never".

-- 
Jeff Carter
"My mind is aglow with whirling, transient nodes of
thought, careening through a cosmic vapor of invention."
Blazing Saddles
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