On Wed, 19 May 1999, Wes Peters wrote: > > Truly and example of the "less is more" concept in action. I've done > > some non-trivial development in Objective-C, and I can assure you that > > I haven't missed C++'s operator overloading. > > I on the other hand have written working embedded systems in C++ and > find it well suited for ANY programming purpose, as long as you under- > stand what is really happening inside the language and use the features > that are appropriate for your application. > > Programmers who like language X because they don't have to know what's > going on under the hood worry me, because that means they're trusting > the operation of their software to programmers they literally know > nothing about -- the compiler writers. And I've been at this FAR too > long to implicitly trust the compiler writers, no matter HOW good they > are. > > Poor craftsmen blame their tools, skilled craftsmen make the tools at > hand produce works of art.
It's a *little* different, Wes. Let me put this proposition: not all tools are good for all folks. My comments about C++ applied strictly to me ... I said *I* didn't like it, and that I'd gone to the trouble of learning it so that I could feel honest about saying my opinion. That's not to say it's a "bad" tool; it's bad for me, and even for me, I can find one application where even I have to admit it works (graphics, GUI programming). For the rest, I was holding forth my opinions, and I hope I didn't voice absolutes. I think it's an extremely overcomplicated disaster for me, but it may be just the ticket for some folks, most especially those with great self restraint, those who restrict themselves to a limited subset of the language. Unlike most who don't like C++, I wouldn't take OO out of it, but I would ax templates and operator overloading. I'd add the inheritance ideas from Java, but remove multiple inheritance. I think the comment "less is more" is right on target; increasing complexity for the sake of complexity, which is what most C++ programs do, repels me. Folks use inheritance 'cause it's neat. They go looking for all the strangest implementation methods merely to use the features. Bleah. I keep hearing the comment that OO lets you visualize programming more "naturally". Please find me a single 4 year old that forms ideas on how to get things done (like dress himself) using an object oriented approach. OO is learned, it's NOT "natural". I like it if it's under heavy restraints, only. ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Chuck Robey | Interests include any kind of voice or data [email protected] | communications topic, C programming, and Unix. 213 Lakeside Drive Apt T-1 | Greenbelt, MD 20770 | I run picnic (FreeBSD-current) (301) 220-2114 | and jaunt (Solaris7). ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- To Unsubscribe: send mail to [email protected] with "unsubscribe freebsd-hackers" in the body of the message
