Re: Teaching C/C++ from Ada perspective?

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On 2018-07-04 22:13, Maciej Sobczak wrote:
>>> My claim that Ada and C++ compilers have the same challenges when it comes to handling the physical project structure holds.
>>
>> Yet Ada allows having a library of packages
> 
> Yes, but that does not change anything in this regard. One reason is that AARM does not define the meaning of this concept. In some sense, the set of source files plays the role of a library. In other words, GNAT already implements the standard notion of the library in terms of source files.
> 
> You can implement the same concept in some other way, for example with the use of relational database as a backend, but AARM still does not define the functionality of such library or why it would be any better. It might as well be as dumb as a plain set of files.

Why should it? The language should merely offer a possibility to 
implement and maintain such a library in a reasonable and effective way. 
On top of that you can define "modified" a more intelligent than stupid 
"newer timestamp".

> And ironically, for a large-scale system, I would not trust anything else than a dumb set of files.

Huh, did you checked your file system recently? It is likely that a dumb 
set files sits on top something with caching, mirroring, journaling, 
transactions, versioning etc. You trust them but do not a library of 
precompiled units?

>> Your examples are related to GNAT
> 
> Which happens to be The Ada Compiler that potential users are going to use.
> 
>> C++ on its part could not have a
>> library.
> 
> Wrong. Everything in the C++ standard is defined in terms of "as if", which means that as long as the required visible effects are supported, the underlying implementation can be anything.

For multiple decades people failed to make precompiled headers working, 
many many people. If AdaCode had so much time and so many caffeinated 
workers, just 1% of those, then GNAT would have a library and everything 
else!

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de