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 19:21:33 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!newsfeed.mathworks.com!btnet-peer0!btnet!psiuk-p2!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: Wed, 1 May 2002 12:07:28 -0400 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: References: <9gBz8.4054$%r1.2380315867@newssvr21.news.prodigy.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1020269250 15568 136.170.200.133 (1 May 2002 16:07:30 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 1 May 2002 16:07:30 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:23385 Date: 2002-05-01T16:07:30+00:00 List-Id: I don't think it is an odd thing to do - you're asking a fair question. There are reasons to suspect that going to the pains of creating lots of specialized types to distinguish between the data being manipulated is of benefit to projects in terms of reducing costs, etc. Is there any way of substantiating it with research? I think it would be difficult to test - but it might depend on how you worded the question. If the question is "Suppose I just use the language provided types with language provided checks, versus a design that distinguishes the kind of data into their own types and subtypes to avoid mixing things. Does this improve productivity?" That, you *might* be able to construct an experiment to test. However, that's a significantly different thing than comparing a weak-typed language (such as C) to a strongly typed language, since Ada still provides a lot of checks on its own defined types that C does not. (Parameter passing or automatic data conversions are good examples. Checking those things can result in major reductions in errors - which Ada does and C does not.) So do the results tell you anything significant? I sympathize with your desire for scientific study - its just understandable why there is so little out there to look at. MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com "dmjones" wrote in message news:Xns9201A63CA1674derekknosofcouk@62.253.162.105... > > Yes, Ada may contain other fine features and separating out the > type system (for experimentation) from the rest of the language may > sound like an odd thing to do. I think the use of strong typing in > other languages would reduce the cost of software ownership. If > you can think of a better way for me to obtain substantiating > evidence please let me know.