Re: Alternatives to C: ObjectPascal, Eiffel, Ada or Modula-3?

[learn2code@yourdesk.com]

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.lang.ada.]
On 2009-07-29, Ray Blaak <rAYblaaK@STRIPCAPStelus.net> wrote:
> fft1976 <fft1976@gmail.com> writes:

> My problem with it is the lack of a garbage collection. That is just not
> acceptable to me these days. If you manually allocate memory, then you
> pretty much have memory bugs, it's as simple as that.

That is simply not true. If you don't know how to do resource management
properly, you're not ready to write commercial code in any environment.

Garbage collection is a throwback to interpreted languages and bloated
run-time systems. Normal compiled languages get along very well without any
such thing at all.

You need to understand your tools and not rely on the rubber crutches
overglorified scripting platforms like Java have taught people to put blind
faith in. What ever happened to competent coders? There is no idiot-proof
system. If you don't know how to manage storage, you shouldn't be allocating
it.

> Also, I find the OO notation a little quirky.

That's a tough proposition from someone advocating C++. C++ notation is
hideous, obfuscated, and error-prone. It's one of the least readable (maybe
the worst in that regard) of any of the languages in common use.

Ada is readable. It's clean, it's orderly, it's so much better and safer
than C++ that there isn't any comparison at all. But that is certainly all
lost on somebody who believes it's impossible to manage memory properly and
thinks garbage collection is a must-have for any language.

>> Ada is also 2x slower, but less suitable for your purposes (verbose,
>> less memory safe than OCaml, free compilers produce GPL-only code)

All utter nonsense. (Understood this was not your comment, you were replying
to the previouis poster...)

> I am pretty sure the GPL-only thing is not true.

Correct.

> My own language choice now would be Java or C#. I am investigating Clojure
> since I always have a fondness for Scheme/Lisps, and a modern Lisp on the
> JVM solves a lot of problems.

Well yes, if you don't know how to code and if you don't understand
fundamental aspects of software engineering like resource management, you
definitely shouldn't be writing code for commercial or industrial
environments and you probably should be using the "protect me from myself"
platforms like Java and C#. I can understand your post better now.