Re: What would you like in Ada202X?

[BrianG <me@null.email>]

On 04/28/2012 09:21 AM, Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57) wrote:
> Le Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:01:48 +0200, Yannick Duchêne (Hibou57)
> <yannick_duchene@yahoo.fr> a écrit:
...
> Le Tue, 17 Apr 2012 05:43:49 +0200, Randy Brukardt
> <randy@rrsoftware.com> a écrit:
>
>> "Georg Bauhaus" <rm.dash-bauhaus@futureapps.de> wrote in message
>> news:4f8c93a0$0$6638$9b4e6d93@newsspool2.arcor-online.net...
...
>> This is irrelevant, because Ada requires the names of the parameters
>> to be
>> those used in *calls*. The names used in the body probably ought to be
>> nouns, but in calls, verbs or adjectives often work better:
>>
>> Leave (When => Now);
>>
>> It is a smallish fault of Ada, in fact, because there almost never are
>> names
>> that work well both in calls and in the body.
>
> Ability to give parameters, different names, one for body and one for
> invokation place.
>
> Actually, one can fake it choosing a name well suited for call‑places
> (where nothing can be done) and to use renaming of parameters in the
> body (this, is something that can be done). That said, this is far to be
> a priority, as we have renaming.
>
This is a problem that I would hate to see "fixed".  It would cause 
headaches for maintenance.  Imagine I have a large body of code that I 
have to maintain.  In researching a problem, I find something like
    This_Is_A_Procedure (Its_Parameter => Some_Value);
My problem relates to Some_Value, so I have to trace Its_Parameter.  I 
search for it, but it only occurs in this line and in the spec of 
This_Is_A_Procedure; the body, I guess, uses a different name in this 
"fix".  So I have to go from the call, to the spec parameter, to the 
body parameter, to the usages; I have to do this for every call, in 
every chain, every time.  That makes maintenance a pain.

With the "fake", there is a single line that associates the 'external' 
and 'internal' names.  I still have to do two searches, but I can't 
choose the way the code was written.

BTW, you can use a renames, or you can assign to a local variable, or to 
a local constant if the parameter is not going to be modified.

-- 
---
BrianG
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