[comp.sw.components] Reference counting ADT's

ted@nmsu.edu (Ted Dunning) (09/23/89)

one thing that all of the c++ programmers will know by heart, but most
of the ada programmers may not have thought of is that one of the most
common ways for a reference to an adt to be destroyed is by
overwriting due to assignment.

of course, handling this is simple if you can overload assignment.
likewise, if you can outlaw assignment, then the second best solution
of naming it something else is possible.

but where does this leave ada?  no overloading or forbidding
assignment leaves the writer of a reliable reference counting adt in a
real pickle.
--
ted@nmsu.edu
			Most of all, he loved the fall
			when the cottonwoods leaves turned gold
			and floated down the trout streams
			under the clear blue windswept skies.