Re: Possible Ada deficiency?

[Robert A Duff <bobduff@shell01.TheWorld.com>]

danmcleran@hotmail.com writes:

> >By the way, is the original poster worried that subunits can see all
> >kinds of hidden stuff in the parent body? That case seems less
> >worrisome, because the parent mentions the names of all subunits.
> >The language could allow the same thing for children (but it shouldn't
> >*require* it).
> 
> I'm not sure what you mean by this. My only point is that there is no
> way to hide internal representation details from child packages.

I mean: both child packages and subunits are separately compiled hunks
of code (separate from the parent).  Child packages have visibility on
the parent's private part, which you don't like.  Subunits have
visibility on the parent's body.  Is that equally bothersome?
I say, no, because the parent package lists the names of all the
subunits; you can't add new ones without modifying the parent.
And the parent can of course disallow subunits altogether.
So my suggested "fix" is to make child units more like subunits in this
one respect -- allow (not require) the parent to name the children,
or forbid children altogether.

If you answer "yes" to my question (please explain why), then you won't
like my suggested fix.

- Bob