Re: += in ada

[18k11tm001@sneakemail.com (Russ)]

Marin David Condic <nobody@noplace.com> wrote in message news:<3F93D7A5.8020801@noplace.com>...
> Aside from these legitimate arguments, there is one other: Its really 
> easy to succumb to the temptation to try to please everyone and end up 
> with garbage as a result. I'm sure we could find a steady stream of C++ 
> fans who would say "Ada would be better if only it had a "+=" operator." 
> and "Ada would be better if only it used "{" and "}" instead of "begin" 
> and "end"..." and "Ada would be better if only it used "*" instead of 
> 'Address/access..." All that amounts to saying is "Ada would be better 
> if only it were the language I *really* want to use - C++"

Well, I certainly would not be one of them. I do *not* think that "{"
is preferable to begin, and I do *not* really want to use C++. But you
and others keep repeating the same canards over and over. Once again,
"+=" is *not* just in C and C++, it is in C, C++, Java, Perl, and
Python, all of which are major modern languages. Ada is in jeopardy of
becoming a *minor* programming language.

> People have not avoided Ada over its syntax. They've avoided it for much 
> bigger reasons than that. Changing the syntax would only overwork the 
> compiler writers, piss off the existing users and make no new batch of 
> converts as an end result.

Ya, and why have they avoided it? You do *not* know the root cause of
why Ada is shunned. Let me try to illustrate a critical point for you.
You cannot necessarily tell why people shun Ada just by asking them.
Sometimes they don't even know themselves. No, they will not say that
they shun Ada because they don't like ":=", but that doesn't mean it
didn't have a subconscious effect on them.

I saw a TV program a few years ago (20/20) in which they did some
experiments. They sent short guys with strong qualifications on job
interviews, and they sent tall guys with weak qualifications to the
same interviews. Guess what happened? The tall, unqualified guys
regularly beat out the short, qualified guys! Yet, when the
interviewers were asked about it, they denied that the applicant's
height had anything to do with it! This illustrates my point that
people often do not understand their own subconscious criteria.

The fact that the 10 most popular programming languages ever designed
*all* use "=" for assignment means something, whether you choose to
ignore it or not. Just do me a favor, please. Don't patronize me when
you are the one ignoring the overwhelming objective evidence.

By the way, I apologize for the STFU remark I made the other day. But
I still resent your patronizing tone.