Xref: utzoo comp.lang.misc:1244 comp.lang.modula2:700
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!mcvax!hafro!krafla!snorri
From: snorri@rhi.hi.is (Snorri Agnarsson)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.lang.modula2
Subject: Re: Re: From Modula to Oberon
Message-ID: <149@krafla.rhi.hi.is>
Date: 16 Mar 88 09:33:54 GMT
References: <272@fang.ATT.COM>
Organization: University of Iceland
Lines: 28

From article <272@fang.ATT.COM>, by cbseeh@fang.ATT.COM (Edmund E Howland):
> It seems you really are saying that you like languages with imbedded
> list processing. Modula-2, Pascal and Ada do not directly support
> list contructs in their syntax, but it is of course possible to roll-your-own,
> so to speak. Garbage collection is not really the issue. It all boils
> down to the right tool for the right job. 
> 

Not true.  It is not a matter of syntax and it is not possible in general
to "roll-your-own" in a satisfactory manner.  To really support abstraction
garbage collection is a necessity.  If you don't believe me, try to 
write list processing primitives in MODULA-2 that work without their user
having to explicitly deallocate unused space and allow the user to write
list processing constructs in a reasonable way, i.e.:

	X := CONS(Y,Z);
	X := HEAD(Y);
	X := TAIL(Y);

It can't be done in any MODULA-2 or PASCAL version I know of.
Ada compilers can theoretically be written in such a way that garbage
collection is possible (at least so I'm told), but I don't know if any
such compilers exist.  It does not seem to be considered a big issue.
In my opinion it is.
-- 
Snorri Agnarsson                  Internet:  snorri@rhi.hi.is
Raunvisindastofnun Haskolans      uucp:      ...!mcvax!hafro!krafla!snorri
Dunhaga 3 107 Reykjavik ICELAND