Re: Ada and Java/C++

[Niklas Holsti <niklas.holsti@tidorum.invalid>]

On 12-08-27 13:46 , kalvin.news@gmail.com wrote:
> Hi All,
> 
> I am not sure whether this idea has been discussed before, but I am
> writing this down anyway.
> 
> Java is a very popular language along C/C++. Ada has fine qualities
> for writing robust code, that Java and c/C++ languages are missing.
> It seems that Ada and other Pascal family of languages are not
> popular among programmers because programmers consider Pascal as a
> toy language suitable only for academic purposes, and Ada has also a
> burden of being DoD language and being complex, slow etc.

Ada may have a *reputation* of being complex and slow, but it isn't really.

> The idea that came to my mind was that if Ada language is implemented
> in syntax similar to Java and C++, this might attract more programmer
> to adapt Ada. This would mean creating Jada (Java-Ada) an/or Cava
> (C-Ada) languages, that look like Java/C++, but actually they are
> Ada. So, no matter what language programmer would use Ada/Jada/Cava,
> the result would be the same - robust code which has all Ada's good
> features.
> 
> Any comments on this?

IMO, Ada syntax is just as close to C and Java as it needs to be, and
also no less different than it should be.

The syntax expresses the semantics. Ada semantics is different from C
and Java and richer than both. You could perhaps use C/Java syntax to
express the subset of Ada that corresponds to C/Java, but then you would
be stuck and would have to invent new syntax to express the rest, or the
programmers would have to switch to original Ada syntax to use the more
powerful features of Ada.

How do you define a new integer type in C syntax? How do you write an
exception handler in C syntax?

So, I think it is a bad idea.

Besides, learning that similar things can be expressed in different ways
is an essential part of understanding what programming is and what
programming languages are.

-- 
Niklas Holsti
Tidorum Ltd
niklas holsti tidorum fi
      .      @       .