Re: Ada syntax questions

["Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.not.acm.org>]

On 12/17/20 11:39 PM, DrPi wrote:
> 
> 1) What about array indexing ?
> In some other languages, arrays are indexed using square brackets. In Ada, 
> parentheses are used for function calls and for array indexing.
> In the code "status := NewStatus(some_var);", you can't tell if NewStatus is a 
> function or an array.

The requirements for the language included a restricted set of characters for 
source code that did not include brackets. So that is the primary reason 
parentheses are used.

However, both arrays and functions are often used as maps, and so an 
after-the-fact rationalization is that using the same syntax for both array 
indexing and function calls makes it easy to switch between the two.

> 2) In Ada, a function without arguments is called without any parentheses.
> In the code "status := NewStatus;", you can't tell if NewStatus is a function or 
> a variable.

That's because Newstatus is a terrible name. If you'd used New_Status there 
would be no confusion.

Seriously: Ada 80 required empty parentheses for a subprogram call with no 
explicit parameters. During the review process that resulted in Ada 83, these 
were universally reviled and so were eliminated.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"I didn't squawk about the steak, dear. I
merely said I didn't see that old horse
that used to be tethered outside here."
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break
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