alt Hacker NewsTo be fair, the file-handling is probably the 'crustiest' part of the standard library. (To use the posix-flags, you use the Form parameter.)
The best way to use Ada, IMO, is type-first: you define your problem-space in the type-system, then use that to solve your problem. -- Also, because Ada's foreign-function interface is dead easy, you could use imports to handle things in a manner more amiable to your needs/preferences, it's as simple as:
Function Example (X : Interfaces.Unsigned_16) return Boolean
with Import, Convention => COBOL, Link_Name => "xmpl16";
Yes, agreed on Ada.Interfaces and the FFI, it's one of the best. The only thing "missing" is auto-import of the definitions in C header files (but there be different dragons). gcc -fdump-ada-specs works fine, but it's effectively a duplication of (non-authoritative) information. That's fine if you're targeting one system, but when targeting multiple systems a single "with Interfaces.C.Syscall_H" quickly becomes a maze of alternative package bodies and accompanying conditional compilation logic.
> The best way to use Ada, IMO, is type-first: you define your problem-space in the type-system, then use that to solve your problem
I guess that goes to the core of the argument I was trying to make: not that Ada is bad, but that the low-level abstractions in Ada's stdlib are a case of premature optimization. Luckily, I take much less issue with the Numerics and Container parts of the standard library.
> To use the posix-flags, you use the Form parameter
Do you have any examples/documentation on the use of the Form parameter? According to the RM, it's a String argument so I wouldn't have expected it to support flags.
(Also, to correct myself on the signalfd issue: there is GNAT.Signals.Block_Signal to mask signals on the Interrupt_Manager thread)