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

[att-out!cbnewsl!willett@rutgers.edu (david.c.willett)]

>From article <1993Aug10.185341.10437@mksol.dseg.ti.com>, by mccall@mksol.dseg.
ti.com (fred j mccall 575-3539):
> In <2465ea$gjg@truffula.fp.trw.com> erwin@trwacs.fp.trw.com (Harry Erwin) wri
tes:
> 
	{Deletia}
> 
> Why are there so many Ada proponents who can't 'defend' their language
> except by bashing others?  That approach seems to reflect more on Ada
> than it does on the languages that most of the (mis)statements get
> made about.
	
	I've found myself guilty of that when speaking to members of
	an "extreme" language culture.  I've been exposed to two,
	both languages begin with the same letter, and one of them
	was Cobol :^).

	The difficulty I usually have is convincing the other 
	folks to separate "architectural" concerns from language
	syntax.  For instance, Ada tasks aren't the same thing as
	"child" processes, but in a Unix shop, that's how tasking
	is often viewed.  Generally, I struggle to be fair and try
	to roll with the punches.
> 
> How often do you hear a proponent of C++ justify his choice of
> language purely on the basis of how disgusting some other language is?
> This is a 'disease' that appears to be pretty much a product of the
> Ada world.  *I* don't think Ada is so bad that this is the only
> 'defense' that can be made of it, and it's not even my favorite
> language.  Why so many who choose Ada first who can't find anything
> better to say about Ada than that C is bad?

	I agree this strategy is a mistake.  It's confrontational and
	doesn't recognize that in some ways C is superior to anything,
	including Ada.  To paraphrase a proverb, "Every language has 
	its application domain."  Having said that, I have to say that
	some C disciples get my back up when they contend that "All you
	need to do is enforce good programming standards/discipline and
	you can do that in C".  They miss the point that Ada is trying
	to use the compiler to enforce such conventions.  The jury is
	still out on whether that's a good idea, but it's an idea which
	demands a fair hearing that I don't think it's getting.
>
	{Fred's sig deleted -- here's mine}
#######                                           ##########          ######
 
Dave Willett          AT&T Federal Systems Advanced Technologies

Shoulda been a cowboy                      Stealin' a young girl's heart
Shoulda learned to rope & ride             Just like Gene & Roy
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Ridin' my pony -- on a cattle drive!       Shoulda been a cowboy...