Re:Ada is not just another programming language (1986)
by Jtsummers on Saturday October 30, 2021 @07:35PM
(#29053139)
It's an interesting comment, and I just read that chapter. But I find it amusing that he's calling Ada (correct spelling, BTW, not ADA) non-humane in comparison to Fortran. Unless it's numerical code, Fortran is pretty non-humane. Computed goto anyone?
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Re:Ada is not just another programming language (1986)
by TuLithu on Saturday October 30, 2021 @07:47PM
(#29053218)
Well, being a mathematician, and having written important texts on numerical analysis, numerical programming was probably foremost in Hamming's mind. Interestingly, he doesn't accuse C of the same issues. I don't really have an opinion one way or the other. I just remembered the quote, and thought I'd share it. Hamming was a pretty awesome dude, so I reference him from time to time.
Re:Ada is not just another programming language (1986)
by theodorethomas on Monday November 01, 2021 @05:51AM
(#29064693)
Fortran (name since 1990) has SELECT CASE to make Computed GO TO obsolete. Maybe you are thinking of FORTRAN?
Re:Ada is not just another programming language (1986)
by Jtsummers on Monday November 01, 2021 @11:10AM
(#29067650)
Sure, FORTRAN then. The language that Hamming was referencing.
Sadly, though, obsolete doesn't mean absent. I saw plenty of ostensibly professional code in the early 2010s that was developed using computed go to. It was "delightful" and totally humane code.