Roy Brown observes:

>> In the strict ANSI C++ Standard you can't even do the casts
>> that Walter mentions.  Pointers to functions can't be converted
>> to pointers to objects at all!  Several ARM rules were removed.
>>
>> You must indirectly cast them to an integral type and then to the
>> other.

> This whole thread has got to represent the most eloquent argument
> I have ever seen.
>
> For COBOL :-)

then Ken Sletten:

> .... even more so for Transact/iX and Java/iX...       :-))

Remember, just because a language feature is there doesn't mean
is MUST be used.  Take the old COBOL verb "ALTER"...please. ;)

Personally, I really like C++.  It feels more "natural" to me
than many other languages.  On the other hand, COBOL has its place
as well, and I use it quite frequently.

I'm still studying Java, and I just don't have a great "feel" for the
language one way or the other.  I've seen some pretty wacky constructs
(like returning an "anonymous" class) but again, just because it's there
doesn't mean it has to be used.

I've never worked somewhere that used Transact or Speedware, so I have
no experience at all with either.

--Glenn