Re: What is wrong with Ada?

[Justin Gombos <rpbkbq.xax.gld@uluv.kbq>]

On 2007-04-10, Pascal Obry <pascal@obry.net> wrote:
> Jeffrey R. Carter a �crit :
>
> Agreed 100%. Another way to put it, let me ask : What's wrong with
> developers ? Why do they like unsafe languages ? Why do they like
> fighting a language all the time ? Why do they like unreadable code
> ?  Why do they like to play with a debugger ? Why do they like to
> play Sherlock Holmes during hours to look for a bug ? Here are the
> real questions to me, again nothing wrong with Ada to me !

It fits the personality profile of C.S. folk.  The enjoyment of
solving technical puzzles is what brings so many of them to this
career.  The discipline that Ada requires is at odds with the
immediate gratification that coders get when they skip the careful
planning part of the task to get right to the "fun stuff."

Adaists are more stimulated by the deferred gratification of
overseeing the careful construction of their gold-plated masterpiece,
and they're driven by the absense of bug reports, maintainability, and
the reduced impact of late requirements changes.

I also think Adaists are an evolutionary step beyond those who program
dangerously.  Immediate gratification developers have the potential to
become Adaists after they get worn out by all the negative side
effects of dangerous languages and haphazard techniques.  And then
there are some who never have an urge to migrate toward sane
development.  

Then there are the Adaists who are only in it for the illusion of
quality work or cool projects, and avoid the strong typing, and
circumvent language features that make Ada code robust.  These are the
singularly most dangerous developers, because they get in on safety
critical projects only knowing Ada syntax (not Ada principles).  Their
dangerous impact is then strengthened by short-sighted bean counters
who believe they're saving the project money with shortcuts (like
avoiding private types).

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