The plus plus

[Steffen Kluge]

On 04/11/2006, at 3:31 AM, Andy Green wrote:

> Therefore it does matter what language you are using, it does  
> affect how you come at a problem, how you can consider a solution,  
> and how successful you will be with the implementation.  In short  
> you cannot correctly choose an architecture without deeply  
> understanding the constraints of the implementation, and that  
> inevitably includes the abilities of the language.

I guess this is where we disagree. No modern programming environment  
imposes limits on the software engineer that requires him or her  
change the software design. If it does then the software engineer is  
misguided and tool-centric.

I'm old fashioned (not 1970's as you guessed but 1980's) and I think  
software engineering is 90% paper and pencil. This doesn't sit at all  
well with geeks who can't be dragged away from the keyboard. But if  
you design as you code (within the constraints of your development  
environment) you are bound to make fundamental design errors. Design  
versus implementation, such an old mantra I'm almost embarassed to  
repeat it.

Here's a challenge: design the most ambitious software project you  
can, and then point out any of our modern programming languages you  
cannot use to implement your design. Performance doesn't count, since  
we're trying to prove that choice of tools doesn't limit imagination.

Cheers
Steffen.