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Date: 3 Jun 93 12:48:54 GMT
From: netnews!schonberg!dewar@nyu.edu  (Robert Dewar)
Subject: Re: Learning C and C++
Message-ID: <dewar.739111734@schonberg>
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

Of course I agree with Bob, the use of the C macro processor to distort the
syntax is a truly horrible practice. Indeed it is this kind of abuse of
macro processors that helped result in the rather draconian approach of
Steelman which required that Ada NOT have a macro processor.

When I talked of using Ada style in C, I was referring not to low level
syntactical stuff, where you are stuck (or blessed, depending on your
point of view, or perhaps whether you are a reader or writer) with the
C syntax, but rather to high level structuring approaches.

In particular, I think most C programming would benefit from a much more
disciplined view of header files, to elevate these to the same level of
importance, design and control as package specs in Ada. Of course in C one
has to depend on people's good behavior or the use of external tools where
in Ada the language provides the necessary control, but it's quite possible
to write C using the Ada package style.