Re: Operator question.

[Stephen Leake <stephen.a.leake.1@gsfc.nasa.gov>]

Wannabe h4x0r <chris@dont.spam.me> writes:

> Alright, forgive me if this question seems dumb. I cant beleive I havent
> asked it before now.(or maybe I have and I just forgot.)
> 
> What does the operator '=>' mean? I've been looking through my book
> "Programming in Ada95" but I cant seem to find it anywhere.

Strictly speaking, "=>" is not an operator; it does not specify an
action performed on parameters, like "+" and "*" do. This may seem
like a nit, but it is very helpful to use correct terminology.

LRM 2.2 (14) says "=>" is called "arrow".

It is used for named association; it "associates" a parameter name
with the actual value in a subprogram call. For example:

procedure Foo (First, Last : in Integer);


Foo (First => 1, Last => 2);

This means the parameter 'First' gets the value 1, and 'Last' gets the
value 2. People often read "=>" as "gets".

Named association is also used in aggregates for records and arrays.
-- 
-- Stephe