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,FREEMAIL_FROM autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,a00006d3c4735d70 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2004-01-10 14:48:48 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news2.google.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.mathworks.com!wn11feed!worldnet.att.net!199.45.49.37!cyclone1.gnilink.net!spamkiller2.gnilink.net!nwrdny02.gnilink.net.POSTED!0e8a908a!not-for-mail From: Hyman Rosen User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.6b) Gecko/20031205 Thunderbird/0.4 X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Certified C compilers for safety-critical embedded systems References: <4r4qvvoo21a01nderfn4us3iv468vqas0m@4ax.com> In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID: Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 22:48:46 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 162.84.196.162 X-Complaints-To: abuse@verizon.net X-Trace: nwrdny02.gnilink.net 1073774926 162.84.196.162 (Sat, 10 Jan 2004 17:48:46 EST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2004 17:48:46 EST Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:4316 Date: 2004-01-10T22:48:46+00:00 List-Id: Robert A Duff wrote: > I think I see what you're saying, but I don't understand the point about > Eiffel. Please explain. I think covariance lets you express generics and other functionality in a way that seems very natural and easy. The designers so fell in love with the idea that even in the face of hideous difficulties, including such untenable requirements as whole-program analaysis, they clung to the notion that this is something they must have. The result ruined the language - no available Eiffel system implements the checks to permit covariance to be used safely.