Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.smalltalk,comp.object
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From: ian@syacus.acus.oz.au (Ian Joyner)
Subject: Re: C++ Productivity
References: <1995Jan23.193745.7044@boole.com> <jim.fleming.84.00133AB6@bytes.com> 	<1995Jan25.201226.28856@rcmcon.com> <1995Jan26.150433@lglsun.epfl.ch> 	<1995Jan27.165208.5951@rcmcon.com> <DAVIDM.95Feb2103620@halfdome.prism.kla.com> <D3I8Fu.67H@syacus.ac
Message-ID: <D3M12t.Kov@syacus.acus.oz.au>
Organization: Australian Centre for Unisys Software, ACUS
Date: Tue, 7 Feb 1995 03:16:04 GMT
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Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.lang.c++:111381 comp.lang.smalltalk:20468 comp.object:26287

us.oz.au> <1995Feb6.175924.17288@rcmcon.com>

rmartin@rcmcon.com (Robert Martin) writes:

>ian@syacus.acus.oz.au (Ian Joyner) writes:

>>Yes, this is true. However to answer Robert's assertion that engineers
>>are free to explore other languages in another way: Those who bother
>>to do so are often (metaphorically) spat on for suggesting such heresies,

>Yes, I have been spat upon (metaphorically) before.  Once, was in 1986
>when I suggested that the company I worked for should begin
>investigating C++. 

> [an interesting personal history]

And who was doing the metaphorical spitting? In your story, it was those
who did not want to move up from assembler to C. So I assume that these
people then did not want to move from C to C++? The one thing that
C and COBOL people have in common is the "I don't need to know
about any other language to do my job" attitude. In my experience the
spitting comes from those who either want to stick to C, or might have
moved to C++, but will move no further.

I think we should have more consultants in the industry who are
OO consultants, who will help out with the OO design of things,
but who are happy to do the implementation in a variety of OO
languages, Smalltalk, Eiffel, C++. However, there seem to be
too many consultants who are doing C++ exclusively, and this
is an unhealthy thing.
-- 
Ian Joyner           |"for when lenity and cruelty play   |All opinions are
Unisys (ACUS)        | for a kingdom, the gentler gamester|personal and are not
ian@syacus.acus.oz.au| is the soonest winner" W.S. Henry V|Unisys official comment
