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 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Thread: 103376,8da181ade72859cf X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit From: Brian May Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: timeouts References: <2jVUc.13319$Fg5.12445@attbi_s53> <%H0Wc.299737$%_6.62464@attbi_s01> Date: Fri, 27 Aug 2004 08:54:06 +1000 Message-ID: User-Agent: Gnus/5.1006 (Gnus v5.10.6) Emacs/21.3 (gnu/linux) Cancel-Lock: sha1:LK1vQzpq0GczHBz8yWwHq3TE2F8= MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii NNTP-Posting-Host: dsl-202-173-153-89.vic.westnet.com.au X-Trace: news.melbourne.pipenetworks.com 1093560845 202.173.153.89 (27 Aug 2004 08:54:05 +1000) X-Complaints-To: abuse@pipenetworks.com X-Abuse-Info: Please forward all headers to enable your complaint to be properly processed. Path: g2news1.google.com!news2.google.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.mel.connect.com.au!news.alphalink.com.au!news.melbourne.pipenetworks.com!not-for-mail Xref: g2news1.google.com comp.lang.ada:3057 Date: 2004-08-27T08:54:06+10:00 List-Id: >>>>> "Stephen" == Stephen Leake writes: Stephen> Hmm. What other compiler (for any language) do you feel Stephen> has no bugs? If I report a bug in the GCC C compiler, for example, then I can access the fix as soon as it is applied to CVS (if I really want it). There is also a publicly available list of bugs, so I can tell if it really is a compiler bug or a bug in my code. With GNAT, I do not get the fix when it is developed, but have to wait until it is fixed in the free version. According to another poster, this problem was known January 2003, that is over one and a half years ago. Stephen> Personally, I don't trust _any_ compiler if I don't have Stephen> a support contract for it. This might work for you, and it might work very well. It doesn't work for everyone. My understanding is that the support contracts are aimed at large projects by large companies. If you are a small company, developing software tools that don't contribute directly to company profits, then a support contract may not be an option. Even if I am wrong here, then a support contract is not really an option when exclusively developing open source software. Not that I have a problem with the business model that if you want the newest features you have to pay for them, but I think an exception needs to be made for bugs that cause valid code to fail in mysterious ways. If you want Ada to become popular, then it is necessarily for bug fixes to be available to everyone too, including open source software developers and companies that can't/won't pay for a support contract. Otherwise that will just become yet another excuse for not adopting Ada. Stephen> Again, what other compiler meets this criteria? GCC C, Stephen> maybe. _not_ GCC C++; I have lots of code that won't Stephen> compile. But C is not a very modern language, and I'll Stephen> take GNAT 3.15p over the latest GCC C compiler any day. Also: With C or C++ you don't rely on the compiler so much to provide high level objects. If, for instance, the package you relied on to provide timers fails you can switch to another library. In my case the solutions I have seen don't seem feasible: * use Linux. * purchase support contract. I have to convince the company that Ada is going to be more reliable first. I am not off to a good start. This isn't a major project that will generate heaps of income, rather its an expensive project (due to poor language choice by people who didn't understand its limitations) that everyone would prefer to forget about. It is very possible that I may be able to make this open source software too, so others can use it. * use mingw compiler - I used that GNAT 3.14p compiler because it was my understanding it would be more reliable - has this changed now? * use external library for timer stuff. Involves rewriting it. * use another language. Involves rewriting it. -- Brian May