What is "real-time"?

[dog.ee.lbl.gov!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!val@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Val Kartchner)]

Since this subthread doesn't seem to be going away, I decided to at least
rename the subthread from "Ada's (In)visibility in the engineering community."

tlai@cs.toronto.edu (Tony Wen Hsun Lai) writes:
: If you want to see the conventional meaning of "real-time" in computer
: science, try looking at some books on operating systems or comparative
: programming languages.

I've given definitions of "real-time" from three different English language
dictionaries.  Everyone seems to say that these are insufficient in a
computer science context.  However, no one has actually posted an alternate
third-party definition of "real-time".  I'll agree to use a formal definition
as given by the FAQ of the comp.realtime group (sight unseen).

: Consider the following example.  Suppose you are writing software for a
: missile system.  Suppose you have a timing constraint where you must use
: a backup sensor if the main sensor does not respond every 25 msec.  You
: cannot express such a constraint in C without using an OS call or an
: external routine.  The C language has no real-time facilities per se.

Given the real-time definitions given so-far, C has as much (if not more)
of a claim to real-time as Ada.  Until we finish defining the catagory, we
cannot say what does and doesn't fit in a given catagory.  However, an
lengthy (and well done) editorial on the subject is given in the article
(that started the thread) "Ada and realtime".

Until we get a mutually agreeable third-party source (not biased toward
Ada nor C/C++), properly cited for reference purposes (and fairness to the
authors), then let's just "Stop the petty bickering!"*

--------
* - Deanna Troi, "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Haven".
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