(j3.2006) [Re: One of the proposals in 12-195 that didn't get out of subgroup]

[Malcolm Cohen]

Wed Oct 31 19:00:13 MDT 2012, Malcolm Cohen wrote
> and he doesn't have
> to wait 10 years for compilers to support a new feature.

Van Snyder claimed:
>This is a frequent excuse advanced for doing nothing.

That claim is completely untrue.

And it was not an "excuse"; it was an observation that, since the language 
already provides facilities quite sufficient for handling this particular 
"problem", he can use the facility already provided ALREADY!  Not in 10 years 
time.  NOW.  The best of all possible worlds, no?

There are serious costs involved in adding new facilities to a language.  We on 
the committee CONSISTENTLY underestimate those costs.  To berate us for not 
underestimating them as much as you do is rather likely to be 
counter-productive.

Cheers,
-- 
................................Malcolm Cohen, Nihon NAG, Tokyo.