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Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2019 17:48:16 -0700 (PDT)
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Subject: Why .ads as well as .adb?
From: John Perry <john.perry@usm.edu>
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Xref: reader01.eternal-september.org comp.lang.ada:56431
Date: 2019-06-01T17:48:16-07:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

Hello

I understand that Ada, like Modula-2 and Modula-3, and arguably like C++, r=
equires a definition file (.ads) as well as an implementation file (.adb). =
With Oberon, Wirth moved away from definition files, using a symbol to indi=
cate which module identifiers should be exported. (Someone else may have do=
ne this before him; it's just that I'm most familiar with this history.) Mo=
st languages I'm familiar with these days do something similar, either via =
public/private or some other mechanism.

As far as I can tell, though, Ada has stuck with the two separate files, ra=
ther than, say, generating an .ads from an .adb with export markup.

Is there a reason Ada hasn't moved to this simpler structure?

john perry