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Being More Terse

Ada is known for being more verbose than other languages because it prefers keywords over symbology. These techniques can help you compact your Ada text where you need it.

Expression Functions​

function "-"(V : Vec3) return Vec3 is
begin
    return (-V.X, -V.Y, -V.Z);
end "-";

Functions can return expressions without using a full begin ... end section. Just wrap your expression in parentheses.

function "-"(V : Vec3) return Vec3 is (-V.X, -V.Y, -V.Z);

Don't repeat parameter types​

function Add (Left : Integer; Right : Integer)
    return Integer;

If parameter types repeat, you can group them.

function Add (Left, Right : Integer)
    return Integer;

Locally use packages​

procedure Test_Is_Quoted (Op : in out TT.Operation'Class) is
begin
    Op.Register;
    Op.Assert (not Is_Quoted (Ada.Characters.Latin_1.Quotation & "some text"));
end Test_Is_Quoted;

Using packages locally doesn't pollute your global namespace.

procedure Test_Is_Quoted (Op : in out TT.Operation'Class) is
    use Ada.Characters.Latin_1;
begin
    Op.Register;
    Op.Assert (not Is_Quoted (Quotation & "some text"));
end Test_Is_Quoted; -- Visibility of Latin_1 ends here.

Abbreviate conversions functions​

Toggles.Append(Ada.Strings.Unbounded.To_Unbounded_String("--verbose"));
Toggles.Append(Ada.Strings.Unbounded.To_Unbounded_String("--skip-errors"));

The usage of "+" as a function to convert from String to Ada.Strings.Unbounded.Unbounded_String is common:

function "+"(S : String) return String renames Ada.Strings.Unbounded.To_Unbounded_String;
Toggles.Append(+"--verbose");
Toggles.Append(+"--skip-errors");

Use default parameters​

S : Spinner := Make (In_Place, 1);

Default parameters allow you to apply common parameter values.

-- When this function signature is used...
function Make (
    Style          : Spinner_Style := In_Place;
    Ticks_Per_Move : Positive := 1) return Spinner;

S : Spinner := Make;

Rename subprograms with default parameters​

S : String := Ada.Strings.Fixed.Trim ("  this is a string   ", Ada.Strings.Both);

You can rename a procedure with bound default parameters.

function Strip(Input : String; Sides : Ada.Strings.Trim_End:= Ada.Strings.Both)
    renames Ada.Strings.Fixed.Trim;

S : String := Strip ("  this is a string   ");

Locally define helper subprograms​

procedure Test_Is_Quoted (Op : in out TT.Operation'Class) is
    use Ada.Characters.Latin_1;
begin
    Op.Register;

    Op.Assert (not Is_Quoted(""));
    Op.Assert (not Is_Quoted ("not quoted"));
end Test_Is_Quoted;

Using a locally defined helper subprogram to simplify repeated local logic. Note that these local subprograms don't pollute the global namespace.

procedure Test_Is_Quoted (Op : in out TT.Operation'Class) is
    use Ada.Characters.Latin_1;
    procedure Not_Quoted (S : String) is
    begin
        Op.Assert (not Is_Quoted(S));
    end Not_Quoted;
begin
    Op.Register;
    Not_Quoted ("");
    Not_Quoted ("not quoted");
end Test_Is_Quoted;

Use package renames within package body​

with Ada.Text_IO;
package body Hello_World is
    procedure Greet is
    begin
        Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
        Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Hello, world!");
        Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    end Greet;
end Hello_World;

Show indication of where subprograms come from while shortening the names used for them. Names inside package bodies won't be visible.

with Ada.Text_IO;
package body Hello_World is
    package AIO renames Ada.Text_IO;

    procedure Greet is
    begin
        AIO.New_Line;
        AIO.Put_Line ("Hello, world!");
        AIO.New_Line;
    end Greet;
end Hello_World;

Use a package at file scope​

with Ada.Text_IO;
package body Hello_World is
    procedure Greet is
    begin
        Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
        Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line ("Hello, world!");
        Ada.Text_IO.New_Line;
    end Greet;
end Hello_World;

Some packages provide well-recognizable subprograms and hence cannot be confused easily. When these symbols are used often, using the package at the file scope can cut down significantly on verboseness. You're polluting the namespace heavily so this should be used judiciously.

with Ada.Text_IO;  use Ada.Text_IO;
package body Hello_World is
    procedure Greet is
    begin
        New_Line;
        Put_Line ("Hello, world!");
        New_Line;
    end Greet;
end Hello_World;

Provide abstraction without introducing more code​

You might not know how you want to use a subprogram, but still want to separate it from another one which could stand-in for it.

package RT.Debug is
    procedure Print (Str : String) renames Ada.Text_IO.Put_Line;
end RT.Debug;

Rename complicated expressions​

Sometimes you might have long complicated expressions, which you can rename, which assigns their value when the renaming occurs. This is not text substitution, so the initial value cannot be modified.

with Ada.Text_IO;

procedure Sample is
    use Ada.Text_IO;

    type Int_List is array (1 .. 10) of Integer;
    Values : Int_List := (others => 0);
    Index : Integer := 1;
    First : Integer renames Values(Index);
    Second : Integer renames Values(2);
begin
    Put_Line (First'Image);
    Put_Line (Second'Image);

    New_Line;
    First := 5;
    Put_Line ("First changed to 5");
    Put_Line (First'Image);
    Put_Line (Second'Image);

    New_Line;
    Index := 2;
    Put_Line ("Index changed to 2");
    Put_Line (First'Image);
    Put_Line (Second'Image);

    New_Line;
    First := 7;
    Put_Line ("First changed to 7");
    Put_Line (First'Image);
    Put_Line (Second'Image);
end Sample;

Output:

0
0

First changed to 5
5
0

Index changed to 2
5
0

First changed to 7
7
0