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From: "Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
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 <1087410710.477506@master.nyc.kbcfp.com>
Subject: Re: A simple ADA puzzle (I haven't the answer)
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2004 16:21:07 -0500
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Date: 2004-06-23T16:21:07-05:00
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"Hyman Rosen" <hyrosen@mail.com> wrote in message
news:1087410710.477506@master.nyc.kbcfp.com...
> Frank J. Lhota wrote:
> > The problem with your definition of String_Type
>
> I don't know if you've been following the Improving Ada's
> Image thread, but this is a perfect illustration of what I
> said there - trying to handle strings in Ada is a nightmare
> if you don't understand a lot about arrays and types and
> constraints. New Ada users, especially those coming from C
> or Java, are going to be utterly confused.
>
> Just the fact that
>    type LEN_TYPE is array (INTEGER range <>) of CHARACTER;
>    type STRING_TYPE (LEN : INTEGER := 0) is
>      record STRING : LEN_TYPE (1 .. LEN); end record;
>    X : STRING_TYPE;
> can result in the allocation of all of memory is completely
> counterintuitive.

And just plain wrong, IMHO. The decision to allow Ada 83 compilers to
emasculate this critically useful feature was one of the worst made. (If
that decision had not been made, we wouldn't really need
Ada.Strings.Unbounded, among other things.) The original ACVC tests required
this to work, and people put pressure on the AVO to get them removed.

But, it's too late to reverse this decision (changing this has far reaching
consequences in compilers, and that makes the cost too high to contemplate).
Sigh.

                     Randy.