Re: something I would like to see in ADA 2005

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

tony_gair@yahoo.co.uk (Tony Gair) writes:

> I would like to see generic protected types in ada 2005.

Please explain why generic packages (containing protected types), as
suggested by Hymen Rosen, do not suffice.  Please also explain why
protected types are special -- why shouldn't we have generic types in
general?

> For example I have had to write seven , very similarly functioning
> protected types to perform the same database functions using the AVL
> trees of the booch components. They protected types save their data
> automatically but why on earth did I need to write seven (and debug !
> and maintain! eek).

Indeed, eek.

> I think protected types remove a lot problems and save writing tasks
> but in this case the task probably should have been used just to
> maintain the genericness ( or genericisity), but this would have been
> at the cost of the solid robustness provided by protected types.

How would tasks help?  Task types are no more generic than protected
types.  If you want genericity, you have to wrap it in a package.

> Are we too late to have our requests considered by whoever makes these
> decisions ?

The Ada Rapporteur Group makes these decisions, ultimately approved by
WG9 and the ISO.  Send your request to ada-comment@ada-auth.org, and see
what they say.  You have to give a concrete proposal, with details
worked out, or they'll probably pay no attention.

- Bob