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=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,d89b08801f2aacae X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-05-01 08:42:27 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!canoe.uoregon.edu!logbridge.uoregon.edu!kibo.news.demon.net!demon!newshub1.nl.home.com!news.nl.home.com!news-x2.support.nl!psinet-eu-nl!psiuk-p4!uknet!psiuk-p3!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Is strong typing worth the cost? Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2002 16:42:22 -0400 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: References: <4519e058.0204290722.2189008@posting.google.com> <3CCE8523.6F2E721C@earthlink.net> <3CCED46D.43145174@san.rr.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1020199344 18621 136.170.200.133 (30 Apr 2002 20:42:24 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 30 Apr 2002 20:42:24 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:23347 Date: 2002-04-30T20:42:24+00:00 List-Id: I can imagine requirements that state things like "Thou Shalt Range Check All Values Before Assignment..." and then any weak typed language loses. That's not really a functional requirement, but I could imagine something like that being necessary to insure that you're comparing apples to apples in your experiment. Things like that *can* become functional requirements as in "The system shall detect all input that is out of range..." or "The system shall never generate an output for this device that exceeds its safe operating range...." All that requires some kind of constraint checks at points throughout the code where a weak typed language is going to be at a disadvantage because you'll have to manufacture your own checks. (Or drive fast and take chances! :-) (Hey! Maybe that's my new analogy: "Any *Competent* Driver can get all tanked up at a bar and drive home really fast and not get in an accident or get busted by the cops..." :-) So maybe the question starts coming down to "How correct do you want the software to be?" If its a quick and dirty, one shot program, Ada is likely to lose. If it Absolutely, Positively Has To Be There Overnight, then weakly typed languages will lose. Somewhere in the middle, there is an arguable point where it crosses over. Which all gets us back to the issue of how hard it is to conduct true science with software engineering because its like trying to nail Jello to a tree. Its really hard to reduce an experiment to one (or even a few) variable(s). MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com "Chad R. Meiners" wrote in message news:aamu42$bc8$1@msunews.cl.msu.edu... > > Invalid! (well mostly ;) How do we know the costs are related to strong or > weak typing? It could be that program A satisfies an unrequested > requirement that doubles the cost of development. I realize that your > realistic requirements MIGHT TRY to address this issue, but the better the > requirements the closer your programs get to being the same which is the > only way you can do a truly valid comparison. This is why it is hard to > acquire valid experimental data in computer science. >