reliable ada development systems

[bemont@tsd.arlut.utexas.edu (Les Bemont)]

Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Subject: reliable Ada development systems
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Distribution: world
Organization: Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin
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** I am posting this for a colleague.  Please e-mail Steve, not me. **


We have been involved in developing several Ada systems (some large)
on Suns and PCs with UNIX, and are very interested in finding a highly
reliable Ada development system.  With Verdix we find ourselves
pushing the limits of the development system -- breaking
features/tools.  We understand that Alsys is no better.  We would
greatly appreciate input on the following topics,

1) Surveys of Ada development system reliability for large systems.

2) Candidate "high reliability" development systems -- not limited to
US companies.

3) Descriptions of how you deal with unreliable/breakable development
tools (what price do you pay).  What is the ratio of your software
development staff to your build/configuration management/software
tools staff?  Is your development staff restricted to using only
certain (reliable) features of the development system?  Do you use
in-house tools or third party tools?  Do you consult with tool vendors
often?  (Weekly?)  Do you use formal software development procedures
to minimize risks due to develop tool reliability issues.  Do you
cultivate your own in-house "experts"?... or don't you have these problems?

Again, pertinent input is greatly appreciated.

Our objective is not to flame Verdix or Alsys.  (I won't respond
to flames).

Steve Glicker
Applied Research Laboratories
The University of Texas at Austin
(steve@titan.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu)