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=-2.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,MAILING_LIST_MULTI autolearn=unavailable autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,a50a3c40267219cc X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-10-23 15:05:34 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!news.tele.dk!small.news.tele.dk!213.56.195.71!fr.usenet-edu.net!usenet-edu.net!enst!enst.fr!not-for-mail From: "Beard, Frank" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: RE: Why not combine Ada and C++? Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 18:03:17 -0400 Organization: ENST, France Sender: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org Message-ID: Reply-To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org NNTP-Posting-Host: marvin.enst.fr Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" X-Trace: avanie.enst.fr 1003874733 8926 137.194.161.2 (23 Oct 2001 22:05:33 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@enst.fr NNTP-Posting-Date: Tue, 23 Oct 2001 22:05:33 +0000 (UTC) To: "'comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org'" Return-Path: X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2448.0) Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.0.6 Precedence: bulk List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: comp.lang.ada mail<->news gateway List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: Errors-To: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org X-BeenThere: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:15104 Date: 2001-10-23T18:03:17-04:00 -----Original Message----- From: Hyman Rosen [mailto:hyrosen@mail.com] > And as far as causing confusion, Ada already allows the same name to > mean multiple things. Quoting from Barnes, > > type Colour is (Red, Amber, Green); > type Stone is (Amber, Beryl, Quartz); > > So when you see Amber in the code, you don't instantly know what it > refers to - you have to examine the context. Reading it aloud doesn't > help either. I fail to see why this is any different than allowing > identifiers to differ only in case. Yes, but the right variable names make the context obvious, as in: Traffic_Light_Color := Amber; or Stone_Formation := Amber; Then the context is immediately clear, but the following isn't: X := Amber; and x := Amber; To me, relying on case sensitivity clouds the context. Sure, you can get used to it, but it's more things to keep up with, and requires more documentation. However, as a minor exception to that, we do use all uppercase to indicate constants, as in MAXIMUM_DEVICES. Frank