Re: Ichbiah 2022 compiler mode

["Randy Brukardt" <randy@rrsoftware.com>]

"Jeffrey R.Carter" <spam.jrcarter.not@spam.acm.org.not> wrote in message 
news:vk631h$3vfb4$1@dont-email.me...
...
> I put a lot of effort into making sure that all constants are so declared, 
> because I have the rule that (with certain exceptions) no non-local 
> variables may be referenced from subprograms, but constants may be 
> referenced from anywhere.

Precisely. The idea is to encourage use of constants by eliminating the 
unnatural advantage to writing uninitialized variables. If everything is 
equally easy/hard to write, then one is more likely to make the best choice 
for the program.

> However, I sometimes have constants that cannot be initialized with a 
> single expression, resulting in
>
> C : T; -- Constant after initialization
>
> Once C has been initialized, I treat it as a constant. Would your approach 
> allow the compiler to know that C is really a constant?

Not with the approach I was envisioning. Of course, Ada 2022 and beyond 
already make it possible to initialize a lot more objects (especially with 
the introduction of container aggregates), so hopefully it will be less 
necessary to write things like your example.

                           Randy.

> -- 
> Jeff Carter
> "Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics
> is not fully human."
> The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
> 214