Re: Ada compilers for Education Use

[rcd@ico.isc.com (Dick Dunn)]

rharwood@east.pima.edu writes:
> Pima Community College has licensed the VAX Ada compiler (I believe for ALL of
> it's student-access VAXes), yet I am the ONLY instructor offering an Ada
> course.  It might be different out "there" in the main-stream of DoD-land, but
> I wonder if the statement "Oh sure I'd USE Ada if only we could get a cheap
> compiler" really translates to "Hmmm, I've GOT to find an excuse somewhere for
> not using a language that naturally induces good program structure."

There are at least two considerations here:
	- The statement of need for a very cheap (preferably "free", since
	  the concept of "cheap" seems to cover almost two orders of magni-
	  tude:-) Ada compiler for university use should be taken as a
	  necessary, but NOT necessarily sufficient condition to promote
	  the teaching and use of Ada.  It's not the only obstacle.
	- TTT: Things Take Time.  Even if you've got the compiler and
	  support, you don't just gesture and say "Domini, domini, domini...
	  we all use Ada now."  The folks who are comparing with the way C
	  and UNIX gained a toehold ought to look at how long that took.
	  I remember my role in helping wean a large university's engin-
	  eering school away from FORTRAN as the only language they ever
	  taught or used.  It took several years--not to convert them
	  entirely to another language, but just to break FORTRAN's
	  stranglehold.

Another matter to consider: the C-UNIX synergy was important in giving it a
toehold in universities.
-- 
Dick Dunn     rcd@ico.isc.com -or- ico!rcd       Boulder, CO   (303)449-2870
   ...If you plant ice, you're gonna harvest wind.