[GAP] Question about subprogram syntax

[Franco Mazzanti]

>On Tue, 21 Feb 2006, Diego Alonso Cáceres wrote:
>
>I'm not an expert but my understanding was that 
>this is considered a feature. The idea is that 
>it is possible to replace a constant with a 
>parameterless function without editing any code 
>that uses that constant.
>
>	A := B;
>
>B might be a value today, but a parameterless 
>function tomorrow. This might be useful, for 
>example, when it becomes necessary to do some 
>significant computation to obtain the desired 
>value.
>
>I don't know how often this actually comes up in the wild, though.
>
Peter

I believe that the possibility of omitting empty 
parenthesis in function call is one of the nice 
features of Ada.

Nevertheless, forbidding them might also be considered a little excessive.


For example, I would be happy if I had the possibility of writing:

   A := B();     --  suggesting the meaning:
                 -- "WARNING: function B has potentially relevant side effects!!


I.e. REQUIRING parethesis is undesirable and backword incompatible,
      ALLOWING parenthesis might be desirable.

Franco

-- 
--
    Franco Mazzanti
    Istituto di Scienza e Tecnologie dell'Informazione "A. Faedo"
    Area della Ricerca CNR di Pisa
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