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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00, HK_RANDOM_FROM autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,93a8020cc980d113 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII Path: g2news1.google.com!news3.google.com!out01b.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!in02.usenetserver.com!news.usenetserver.com!cycny01.gnilink.net!spamkiller2.gnilink.net!gnilink.net!trndny04.POSTED!f0d9c8c1!not-for-mail Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada From: Justin Gombos Subject: Re: What is wrong with Ada? References: <1176150704.130880.248080@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> <461B52A6.20102@obry.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit User-Agent: slrn/0.9.8.1 (Linux) Message-ID: Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 02:25:16 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 72.86.114.139 X-Complaints-To: abuse@verizon.net X-Trace: trndny04 1177295116 72.86.114.139 (Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:25:16 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2007 22:25:16 EDT Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:15229 Date: 2007-04-23T02:25:16+00:00 List-Id: On 2007-04-10, Pascal Obry 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). -- PM instructions: do a C4esar Ciph3r on my address; retain punctuation.