Re: The future of Ada is at risk

["Phaedrus" <phaedrusalt@hotmail.com>]

Take a look at this:
http://www.st.cs.uni-sb.de/edu/seminare/2005/advanced-fp/docs/sweeny.pdf

The game development guys realize the need for a new language.  Doesn't the 
language he describes sound a little familiar?  Lots of Ada-esque stuff 
there.  Sure, there's a lot of work to be done before Ada is really 
practical for game development, but it's certainly do-able.  Remember, the 
game market is a lot bigger than the old military market ever was.

Just a few things will have to change before it's worth-while.  You're 
right, only one real compiler exists and it's horribly expensive for 
commercial work. (Isn't it interesting that they claim to only charge for 
"support", but then force anyone who uses the free compiler to release their 
developed software for free?  *sigh*)  Along that line, a lot of current Ada 
packages have been infected with the dreaded GPL-itis. That make them 
unusable for commercial stuff, too.  But mostly I think that it's the nature 
of the mindset behind a lot of packages that would need to change.  Getting 
those 50 - 60Hz updates isn't easy!

Just my $.02 worth.
Brian

"Rico Secada" <coolzone@it.dk> wrote in message 
news:20071229040639.f753f982.coolzone@it.dk...
>I have been doing a lot of research about the usage of Ada, both in
> industry and in the Open Source community. I am possible writing a paper
> on the issue and needs some constructive criticism.
>
> I have reached the following conclusions:
>
> 1. Many companies are moving away from Ada towards C/C++. Many has
> already moved during the past 10 years.
>
> 2. Very few projects exists on Sourceforge and Freshmeat compared to
> other languages like C++, Java, Python and others.
>
> Only 92 projects on Sourceforge.net and 57 on Freshmeat.net.
>
> 3. This is the biggest problem: Ada lacks free support on all
> platforms. The GNU GNAT Compiler is the only Open Source compiler, and
> it lacks proper support and implementation on a variety of platforms.
>
> The different GNU/Linux implementations of GNAT and the different BSD
> implementations seems to miss different aspects making it impossible to
> port larger projects without having to buy a proprietary compiler.
>
> My study shows, from searching around different mailing list archives
> on GNU/Linux and BSD, that people are very attracted towards Ada, but
> because of a poor implementation on different platforms when compared
> to C and C++ people stay away and focus on those languages instead.
>
> Problems with GNU GNAT and platform independence seems to be the one
> major reason why Ada isn't a moving target.
>
> I would like your comments on this please!
>
> Best regards.
>
> Rico Secada.