Re: Newbie Needs Ada Advice

["Dmitry A. Kazakov" <mailbox@dmitry-kazakov.de>]

On 3 May 2007 10:13:38 -0700, ezkcdude wrote:

> I'm interested in using Ada, so I installed the GNAT compiler on
> Windows (tried on Mac, but I had problems with X11). Anyway, I want to
> dive in head-first, and my main question is how do you guys write
> programs with GUIs?

There are lots of bindings and GUI libraries out here. Here is a list:

http://www.adapower.com/index.php?Command=Class&ClassID=AdaGUI&Title=Ada+GUI

> Do you use the gdk toolkit primarily?

Yes, I am using GTK+ (through GtkAda bindings). It does not make me happy.
GTK+ does not, I mean. IMO, GTK+'s ideology is quite alien to Ada.

And Windows (did you speak about Windows?) support in GTK+ is not that
perfect. But I am sure you will be able to get most of what you wished.

> Also, the
> application I eventually have in mind is for automated control of a
> microscope, so I need to be able to interface with drivers/serial
> ports/firewire/etc.

That should not be a problem if you have drivers for. From Ada you can do
whatever OS calls you wished.

> Do you have any advice for me to help me along?

I would say that for automation, a proper use of tasking is essential. If
your data flow and control is fast, you might get problems with the
event-controlled design of GUI. This is a weak point of many GUI libraries.
You might wish to consider a time-controlled visualization architecture.

Don't try to optimise your code in advance. In these times computers are
quite fast, while sensors and actuators are comparatively slower. So you
can sacrifice some performance for a cleaner software design. Further many
ad-hoc assumptions about efficiency of this or that language construct
often turn wrong. 5-10 ms soft real-time is no more a problem.

-- 
Regards,
Dmitry A. Kazakov
http://www.dmitry-kazakov.de