Re: NOACE- End of the road for Ada?

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

<adaworks@sbcglobal.net> writes:

> "Jared" <nowhere@nowhere.nowhere> wrote in message
> news:S39Zd.1389$fO6.3528@news.uswest.net...
> >
> > Java, as has been pointed out elsewhere on this
> group, is basically C++
> > with all the bad parts removed and with garbage
> collection added.  Java is
> > comfortable to all the C people, because of its
> syntax, because of its
> > culture, and because it pretends to share the
> C++ idioms.
> >
> A strange argument, but a common one.
> 
> Ada's syntax is not less comfortable than the
> syntax of the C family.  In fact,
> I find the C family syntax rather annoying, not
> particularly intuitive, and full
> of contradictions and work-arounds.

Richard,

I think you misunderstand Jared's point.  He's not saying Java syntax is
"better" -- he's saying it's comfortable to folks used to C syntax.
That seems quite likely true.  If you're a C programmer, you're used to
seeing lots of curly braces all over, and you're used to declaring
variables by putting the type name first (int X instead of X: int).
Switching to Java is then comfortable.  Switching to Ada is not -- you
have to get used to "end if" instead of "}" and so forth.

I think that's a big part of the reason Java is so popular -- it gives a
comfortable syntax, plus garbage collection, no confusion between arrays
and pointers, etc.

I happen to be comfortable with Ada syntax, so I find "int X" bass
ackwards.  (But then I also find "package X" backwards; it should be
"X: package".  The most important thing about a declaration (its name)
should come first.  Then what sort of thing it is.  Then more details.)

- Bob