Re: Ada exception block does NOT work?

"Jeffrey R. Carter" <spam@xxxxxxxx> writes:

> Robert A Duff wrote:
>
> > It is unfortunate that different programming languages use different
> > terminology for what is essentially the same concept. "Raise" and
> > "handle" mean essentially the same thing as "throw" and "catch".
> > There are important differences in syntax and semantics among different
> > languages, but terminology differences just get in the way of
> > understanding the "real" differences. And the differences between C++
> > and Java are just as important as the differences between C++ and Ada,
> > even though C++ and Java use more-similar terminology.
>
> The point is that Ada was there first, so Ada terminology must be the
> "Right" terminology.

Ada was certainly not the first language with exceptions.
Does anybody know which one was? And were they called "exceptions"
and were they "raised" and "handled"?

I believe Symbolics Lisp predates Ada. True? And I believe it had
exceptions, which were called "conditions". (Symbolics Lisp was
the predecessor of Common Lisp.)

Anyway, terminology of programming language concepts is such a mess that
it's hard to say what the "right" terminology is. Too bad.

Besides, there's an element of "pot calling kettle black" here.
Ada misuses quite a few terms. For example, pointers should be called
"pointers" or "references", not "accesses". And it's an abomination to
use the term "integer" for a meager subset of the integers. I believe
the term "integer" to refer to the infinite set predates Ada somewhat.
;-)

- Bob
.

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