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From: dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)
Subject: Re: Equality operator overloading in ADA 83
Date: 1997/04/25
Message-ID: <dewar.861971395@merv>#1/1
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References: <01bc4e9b$ac0e7fa0$72041dc2@lightning> <E91zFw.KDE@world.std.com>
 <mheaney-ya023680002204972109430001@news.ni.net>
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Organization: New York University
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: 1997-04-25T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


Matthew says

<<The whole point of a high level language is so that the programmer
_doesn't_ have to think about those things.  He should be thinking about
the problem, not the solution.  We have to remove programming language as a
barrior to the production of correct software systems.

Gee, I think I'm beginning to sound like someone else.  Bertrand, are you
listening?>>

But that's motherhood and apple pie. Everyone believes that! Whenever you
see a feature you don't like, you can be sure that it was designed that
way with the above principle in mind, and perhaps the above principle
is the driving one.

For example, it seems clearly to violate this principle to compose
equality for scalar types, and then not use this composed equality in
case statements.

Whenever you thnk that a general and obvious, and universally acceptable
principle such as the above one clearly argues for one side in a
controversial issue, you are probably missing some subtleties!