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From: adaworks@netcom.com (AdaWorks)
Subject: Re: C++ Productivity
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Dom De Vitto (devitto@senna.ferndown.ate.slb.com) wrote:

: : David Chase (chase@michaelcenterline.com) wrote:

: : : Templates, though better than macros, are still a crock
: : :    as implemented in C++.

: And in Ada, too. Both are pretty naff, but C++ allows you to build
: repositaries *OR* include on a per-module basis.

  I am not sure what the word "naff" means, but I assume I am 
  correctly interpreting the comment as deprecatory. If my understanding
  of "naff" is flawed, it is probably a function of my antiquity.

  Turning to the comment on Ada. Ada generics (referred to as templates)
  have been an important part of Ada from the beginning.  The new Ada 95
  standard has improved upon and extended the generic model to make it
  more robust for object-oriented programming.  I have used generics in
  both Ada 83 and Ada 95 and find this to be a valuable capability. There
  are now repositories of generic components in both free software and 
  commercial-for-sale sector.  

  Generics and templates are important features in typed languages such as
  Ada, C++, and Eiffel.  I understand that they are not necessary in 
  Smalltalk because there is a different philosophy of design. Therfore,
  without trying to get into a battle about the respective virtues of 
  the many available programming languages, let me simply say that 
  generic templates have worked-out quite well for Ada.

  Richard Riehle
  richard@adaworks.com
-- 

richard@adaworks.com
AdaWorks Software Engineering
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