Re: OpenVMS system programming language

On 2/24/2025 9:22 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:

And then there’s the long-windedness of code like
      static final java.util.Map<Integer, String> TypeNames;
       /* mapping from sensor type codes to symbolic names */
     static
       {
         TypeNames = new java.util.HashMap<Integer, String>();
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER, "accelerometer");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE, "ambient temperature");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_GRAVITY, "gravity");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_GYROSCOPE, "gyroscope");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_LIGHT, "light");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_LINEAR_ACCELERATION, "linear accel");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_MAGNETIC_FIELD, "magnetic");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_ORIENTATION, "orientation");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_PRESSURE, "pressure");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_PROXIMITY, "proximity");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_RELATIVE_HUMIDITY, "relative humidity");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_ROTATION_VECTOR, "rotation");
         TypeNames.put(Sensor.TYPE_TEMPERATURE, "temperature");
       } /*static*/
 because the language doesn’t provide expressions that evaluate to
common structure types like dictionaries/maps.

If you are on Java 10+ then you could:
Map<Integer, String> typeNames = Map.of(Sensor.TYPE_ACCELEROMETER, "accelerometer",
  Sensor.TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE, "ambient temperature",
                                         ...);
But the Sensor.TYPE_* int approach has been obsolete since Java 5 where
Java got enums.
With enum the need for that Map disappears.
You can either hack it:
public class EnumHack {
     public static enum SensorType {
         TYPE_ACCELEROMETER, TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE, TYPE_GRAVITY;
         public String prettyName() {
             return name().substring(5).toLowerCase().replace('_', ' ');
         }
     }
     public static void main(String[] args) {
  System.out.println(SensorType.TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE.prettyName());
     }
}
or do it the right way:
public class EnumRight {
     public static enum SensorType {
         TYPE_ACCELEROMETER("accelerometer"), TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE("ambient temperature"), TYPE_GRAVITY("gravity");
         private String prettyName;
         private SensorType(String prettyName) {
             this.prettyName = prettyName;
         }
         public String getPrettyName() {
             return prettyName;
         }
     }
     public static void main(String[] args) {
  System.out.println(SensorType.TYPE_AMBIENT_TEMPERATURE.getPrettyName());
     }
}
Arne