Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!igor!rutabaga!jls From: jls@rutabaga.Rational.COM (Jim Showalter) Newsgroups: comp.object Subject: Re: Documenting OO Systems Message-ID: Date: 5 Apr 91 02:11:02 GMT References: <20106@alice.att.com> <1991Mar26.191259.14470@i88.isc.com> <27F4D4BE.716@tct.uucp> <1991Apr2.175756.12586@visix.com> <1574@acf5.NYU.EDU> Sender: news@Rational.COM Lines: 18 >Just goes to show you: hindsight is the *only* perfect science. Ada and C++ >could not have been developed with first experiencing C and Algol. Agreed. The difference between software and other disciplines, however, is that in other disciplines obsolete tools and techniques are readily discarded when something better comes along. By your own admission, C and Algol are the equivalent of slide rules and the abacus. All I'm trying to get people to do is dump them in favor of something better. Stubbornly clinging to languages and techniques with proven deficiencies makes as much sense as a hardware engineer refusing to use those darned newfangled VLSI chips, a mechanical engineer refusing to use those scary new CAD systems, a construction firm refusing to use poured concrete in place of bricks and plaster, etc. -- * The opinions expressed herein are my own, except in the realm of software * * engineering, in which case I borrowed them from incredibly smart people. * * * * Rational: cutting-edge software engineering technology and services. *