Re: Ada e-books

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

"Simon Wright" <simon@pushface.org> wrote in message 
news:lyh9khhm79.fsf@pushface.org...
> "Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.not.acm.org> writes:
>
>> The Rosen trick
>
> Randy suggested "technique"; I'd like to suggest "device".

It originally was known as a "trick", but as it is now an accepted 
programming technique, and we rewrote some of the rules in the Ada Standard 
to ensure that compilers have to allow it, it seems wrong to call it that. A 
"trick" is a clever way to work around the rules -- "tricks" should be 
avoided. OTOH, "techniques" are just non-obvious ways to structure one's 
code (not something to be avoided, necessarily).

"device" to me says something about hardware (a mouse is a device, a printer 
is a device), not software.

                                      Randy.