From: Paul Johnson <Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: Building blocks (Was: Design By Contract)
Date: 1997/09/17
Date: 1997-09-17T00:00:00+00:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <wihnDCAGPDI0IwlD@treetop.demon.co.uk> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 5v34m5$pl9$1@trumpet.uni-mannheim.de
In article <5v34m5$pl9$1@trumpet.uni-mannheim.de>, Marc Wachowitz
<mw@ipx2.rz.uni-mannheim.de> writes
>paul.johnson@gecm.com (Paul Johnson) wrote:
>> In fact the Eiffel exception mechanism is superior to the Ada one
>> because it is built on a theoretical model of software engineering.
>
>It is only "superior" if you think that Bertrand Meyer's proposed theory
>about exceptions is the only valid one. I don't think it is - and just to
>the contrary, I consider something like Eiffel's class EXCEPTION an ugly
>hack to differentiate between kinds of exceptions.
Which suggests that you are missing the point about DBC.
The precise mechanism by which the client distinguishes between
exceptions is not important (in fact I rather agree with you about
EXCEPTION).
What is important is the fact that ignoring an exception is not an
option. DBC requires that a class either fulfil its contract or raise
an exception. The client class which recieves the exception can either
try again a different way or pass the exception on to its client.
Simply hiding the failure under the carpet is not an option. The
precise nature of the exception is much less important than its
existance.
Ada allows the programmer to quietly ignore an exception and pretend
that a routine succeeded when in fact it failed. This is wrong.
Paul.
--------------------------------+---------------------------------
Paul Johnson | You are lost in a maze of twisty
Email: Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk | little standards, all different.
paul.johnson@gecm.com |
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1997-09-17 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 74+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1997-09-09 0:00 Building blocks (Was: Design By Contract) Marc Wachowitz
1997-09-15 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-17 0:00 ` Paul Johnson [this message]
1997-09-18 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-18 0:00 ` Stephen Leake
1997-09-18 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-21 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-18 0:00 ` Mark L. Fussell
[not found] ` <11861963wnr@eiffel.demon.co.uk>
1997-09-19 0:00 ` Mark L. Fussell
1997-09-19 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-09-20 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-22 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-23 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-23 0:00 ` Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
1997-10-03 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1997-10-04 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-10-14 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1997-09-23 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-24 0:00 ` Richard A. O'Keefe
1997-09-24 0:00 ` Alan E & Carmel J Brain
1997-09-25 0:00 ` Anonymous
1997-09-30 0:00 ` Alan E & Carmel J Brain
1997-09-30 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-30 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-30 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-10-01 0:00 ` Alan E & Carmel J Brain
1997-09-30 0:00 ` Neil Wilson
1997-09-30 0:00 ` Stephen Leake
1997-10-01 0:00 ` Anonymous
1997-10-01 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-10-01 0:00 ` Paul M Gover
1997-10-04 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-10-04 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-10-15 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-10-15 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-10-16 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-10-17 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1997-10-16 0:00 ` Joachim Durchholz
1997-10-22 0:00 ` Reimer Behrends
1997-10-02 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-10-02 0:00 ` Tucker Taft
1997-10-02 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-10-03 0:00 ` Stephen Leake
1997-10-04 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-10-07 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-09-19 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-23 0:00 ` Mark L. Fussell
1997-09-18 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
-- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below --
1997-09-11 0:00 Robert Dewar
1997-09-09 0:00 Marc Wachowitz
1997-09-02 0:00 Design By Contract Jon S Anthony
[not found] ` <JSA.97Sep3201329@alexandria.organon.com>
1997-09-04 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
[not found] ` <5un58u$9ih$1@gonzo.sun3.iaf.nl>
1997-09-06 0:00 ` Building blocks (Was: Design By Contract) Joachim Durchholz
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-08 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-09 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Robert A Duff
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-16 0:00 ` Brian Rogoff
1997-09-12 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-15 0:00 ` John G. Volan
1997-09-14 0:00 ` Robert Dewar
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Paul Johnson
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1997-09-10 0:00 ` Darren New
1997-09-09 0:00 ` W. Wesley Groleau x4923
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Jon S Anthony
1997-09-09 0:00 ` Veli-Pekka Nousiainen
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