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-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII X-Google-Thread: 103376,bc1361a952ec75ca X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-08-01 02:34:35 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!newsfeed.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!newsfeeds.belnet.be!news.belnet.be!news1.ebone.net!news.ebone.net!news.net.uni-c.dk!uninett.no!ntnu.no!not-for-mail From: randhol+abuse@pvv.org (Preben Randhol) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: How to make Ada a dominant language Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 09:34:34 +0000 (UTC) Organization: Norwegian university of science and technology Message-ID: References: <3B6555ED.9B0B0420@sneakemail.com> <9ff447f2.0107301653.c8f5e94@posting.google.com> <3B6624E6.DF734E5C@sneakemail.com> <9ff447f2.0107311725.5af099ae@posting.google.com> <3B6784C6.200B0B47@sneakemail.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: kiuk0156.chembio.ntnu.no Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit X-Trace: tyfon.itea.ntnu.no 996658474 8920 129.241.83.82 (1 Aug 2001 09:34:34 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@itea.ntnu.no NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2001 09:34:34 +0000 (UTC) User-Agent: slrn/0.9.7.1 (Linux) Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:10927 Date: 2001-08-01T09:34:34+00:00 List-Id: On Tue, 31 Jul 2001 21:25:42 -0700, Russ wrote: > Adrian Hoe wrote: >> Which is clearer? The use of ":=" has the purposeful meaning in >> avoiding confusions in apes like us. Certainly, there is no big deal >> with a compiler. > > Good. Then let the compiler warn you. That is not a good idea. 1. Programmers (read hackers) tend to ignore the warnings while developing 2. Bogus or too many warnings will make the programmer stop paying attention to them, like a fire alarm that goes off often without there being any fire. 3. I don't see any gain what so ever in removing _one_ character as it clearly reduces readability as seen in a previous post. If it is so hard to type :=, then make a macro and put it on a shortcut. Just wait until you have coded a bit. Another feature of Ada that you might not like in the beginning, but later love, is the strictness of the language which subsequently will give you a lot more errors at compile time, and very few at runtime. The compiler will usually also help you understand your mistake with meaningful error messages. Whereas when I tried C++ briefly, I managed to compile the program, but they usually failed to run or a lot of runtime errors popped up. "Now why is this an advantage" one might think, because one will spend a lot of time debugging to track down a small error one made somewhere in the code, which would probably be caugth by the compilor. You could have fixed it in seconds. When you get more used to Ada you tend to make fewer and fewer mistakes. Preben PS: I prefer that my Ada compiler says that I have an error in line XXX because I might have written: A = 1; and tell me that it should be: A := 1; than getting loads and loads of warnings about possible bugs, which may or may not be real. -- �Don't use C; In my opinion, C is a library programming language not an app programming language.� - Owen Taylor (GTK+ developer) Use Ada 95, a free language. More info at http://www.adapower.com/