Re: Ada and C++: A request for comparison/contrast/relative benefits

[fedfil!news@uunet.uu.net (news)]

In article <1993Aug16.113000.2845@sei.cmu.edu>, progers@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu (Pat R
ogers) writes:
*In article <1374@fedfil.UUCP> news@fedfil.UUCP (news) writes:
*>

*[stuff from a reputable person who probably doesn't want to be associated
*with the Ted persona deleted]

*>That's what the outside world has been saying all along.  You take STANFINS R
,
*>the FAA scandal,  all of the grief from the Adawoe BBS, all of the grief
*>which I've seen in journal articles for the last ten years every time anybody
*>tries to do anything at all non-trivial with Ada, all of the stories about
*>people spending ten hours working around Ada and one hour solving their
*>problem, Charles Hoare's warning not to use Ada for anything with potentially
*>serious consequences (speech upon receipt of Turing award, 1980), Jean
*>Ichbiah's washing his hands of the 9X effort, which is like imagining the
*>inventor and chief design engineer of the Edsel publically denouncing the
*>next-year's new-and-improved model, all of the stories about people writing
*>some little menu in Ada (to claim they'd used it) and then branching to
*>code in other languages (which works), thus guaranteeing non-portability...

*Mr Holden continues to amaze.  Having been shown on numerous occasions that
*Hoare changed his mind and publicly approved of Ada, Mr. Holden still uses the
*out of date Turing award speech.  

One of the supposed beauties of Ada is that it cannot ever change.  The Ada 
which Hoare claimed was unfit for any use with serious consequences is the
same Ada which is out there now, to the best of my understanding.

I suppose I'm supposed to believe that Hoare became more intelligent after
the original paper was presented.  I assume he was of middle age in 1980;  
people don't generally get more intelligent after about 40.

Basically, the kind of statement made in that original paper, once made,
cannot well be unmade.


*Further, Mr. Holden accused Hoare of
*"selling out" to the DoD for doing so!  

That's not the way I recall it.  I have no real idea how they <got to> him.
Considering the theoretically infinite supply of money behind Ada, bribery
is a possibility.  Torture is another possibility...  I assume the man
has family members who could have been kidnapped...  Brainwashing.....


-- 
Ted Holden      Evolutionism is to science
HTE             As rapp is to music