Re: Containers - nontrivial element access

[Robert A Duff <bobduff@shell01.TheWorld.com>]

Jacob Sparre Andersen <sparre@nbi.dk> writes:

> Robert A Duff wrote:
>
>> In Ada, "array" is built in, and has all kinds of cool features
>> (aggregates, with full-coverage checking, for example).  It's
>> annoying that vectors can't have all of those features.
>
> What is the reason that vectors (and trees and linked lists) aren't
> built in, while arrays are?

Building things in tends to make a language much more complicated.
I'd say too many things are built in to Ada already.

Also, there is an open-ended list of things like vectors.
It's impossible to build them ALL in, since there are too many
(and they have not all been invented yet!).  Ideally, if
Ada.Containers.Vectors did not exist, any programmer should be
able to create it (and make it have all the cool features
of arrays).

- Bob