University of Virginia, Department of Computer Science
CS655: Programming Languages, Spring 2001

Manifest: Tuesday 27 March 2001
Assignments
TodayProject Proposal
Before 11am, ThursdayEmail me about Sather (see below)
Readings
Read before Thursday 29 March (handed out last time):

Links
Type Specifications of bset and uset (PDF)
Questions
And so, the best of my advices to the originators and designers of Ada has been ignored. In this last resort, I appeal to you, representatives of the programming profession in the United States, and citizens concerned with the welfare and safety of your own country and of mankind: Do not allow this language in its present state to be used in applications where reliability is critical, i.e., nuclear power stations, etc. The next rocket to go astray as a result of a programming language error may not be an exploratory space rocket on a harmless trip to Venus: It may be a nuclear warhead exploding over one of our own cities. An unreliable programming language generating unreliable programs consitutes a far greater risk to our environment and to our society than unsafe cars, toxic pesticides, or accidents at nuclear power stations. Be vigilant to reduce that risk, not to increase it.

C. A. R. Hoare, "The Emperor's Old Clothes" (Turing Award Lecture), CACM Feb 1981.


CS 655 University of Virginia
Department of Computer Science
CS 655: Programming Languages
David Evans
evans@virginia.edu