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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,ddc669e8cf09b24 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2003-07-11 19:26:22 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!postnews1.google.com!not-for-mail From: aek@vib.usr.pu.ru (Alexander Kopilovitch) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Debugger Rant (was Re: How to debug an Ada program) Date: 11 Jul 2003 19:26:21 -0700 Organization: http://groups.google.com/ Message-ID: References: <254c16a.0307110505.463b1cc0@posting.google.com> <3F0ED3FF.65497AEE@raytheon.com> <3F0F04F1.7080903@attbi.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 195.242.16.110 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: posting.google.com 1057976782 17681 127.0.0.1 (12 Jul 2003 02:26:22 GMT) X-Complaints-To: groups-abuse@google.com NNTP-Posting-Date: 12 Jul 2003 02:26:22 GMT Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:40220 Date: 2003-07-12T02:26:22+00:00 List-Id: Robert I. Eachus wrote: > > While a debugger may not be needed as much in > > Ada (and certainly not as much for the simpler problems) as in other languages, it > > is an indispensable tool in complex Ada applications, especially in the real-time, > > embedded world. > Shurg! I guess I have internalized a style of programming once known as > "Design to test." In other words, all (formal) requirements are > testable, and you design and code from day one to make passing those > tests as easy as possible. While being absolutely true, this is surprisingly hard to remember. Every time when I read this position I wholeheartly agree with it; moreover, several times I tried it (at least partially) in practice, and in each case a reward was excellent... and nevertheless, I'm unable to keep it in mind and apply regularly. And I know well that I'm not alone with this strange kind of "disability". Why it is happened, and how one can "internalize this style of programming" (using your words) ? Alexander Kopilovitch aek@vib.usr.pu.ru Saint-Petersburg Russia PS. After writing above words, one fantastic vision occured to me - I imagined Web-based master class - yours, "Programming using Ada". Why not? You have tremendous experience, rock solid skills and views, you are alive to hidden errors and potentially dangerous solutions, you are apparently willing to share your knowledge, and you don't like to write books and articles (I searched the Net and found only one your article, and it was on quite specific issue). This is extremely suitable combination for a master class instructor. Well, I understand that one more component is needed - there should be example problems, and it isn't a simple/pleasant task to collect good ones. But my vision included even this side - in the form of real-world examples from several first chapters of the book "Problem Frames: Analyzing and Structuring Software Development Problems" by Michael Jackson.