March 1993 TwinCities SIGAda: Ada and/or C/C++ for Systems Programming

March 1993 TwinCities SIGAda: Ada and/or C/C++ for Systems Programming

[Paul Stachour]

Twin Cities SIGAda presents:   Dueling Languages: Ada vs. C

7PM, Thursday March 11, 1993
Macalaster College, Olin Hall, Romm 200
St. Paul, Minnesota

It`s a tag-teem event.  The original Ada language--Ada 83--and the soon to 
be released update Ada 9x are squaring off against the ever popular 
C and its  extension C++.

Weighing in with supposedly notoriously slow, multi-megabyte compilers 
that produce inefficient code all in the name of safe programming, 
we have Ada 83.  And right behind Ada is her sister, Ada 9x, 
who promises to add all the latest in object-oriented technology
to the overwhelming set of capabilities provided by her big sister.

And in the other corner, we have the C language ready to compile 
quickly into small, highly optimized, object code that blows up 
because it didn`t realize that the programmer should have used 
"*(unsigned *)" instead of "&".  His companion, C++, is the popular 
state-of-the-art object oriented language that power programmers 
use to write programs that explode in different and more unique 
ways than C programs.

Which language is better?  What are the advantages of one language
over the other?  How can industry switch to Ada if it has so much 
invested in C already--even if Ada is a better language? 
Why doesn't the military wake up and realize that C/C++ is the wave 
of the future?  Are the advantages touted by Ada-enthusiasts 
just academic snobbery?  Are there real differences between 
the languages, or is it all just personal preference?

Four language experts will discuss this topic in open debate.
They will discuss why industry, the military, the academic 
communities and individual programmers prefer one language 
over the other.  They may attempt to persuade each other 
to change their personal preferences.  They may start a fist
fight, because as geeky as it may seem, computer heads often 
get very emotional about languages.   So, be prepared 
for hard-hitting remarks and possibly a little mud-slinging. 
But also be prepared for real dialogue on an issue that affects computing 
today and will affect computing into the next century.

This meeting is open to the public.  Twin Cities SIGAda 
is a special interest group of the Association for 
Computing Machinery (ACM).  For more information 
regarding this meeting or membership in Twin Cities 
SIGAda contact Chad Broshar at (612)-572-6145.


Directions to Macalaster:  Go approximately 1 mile south of I-94 
on Snelling Ave.  Turn west on St. Clair (by the St. Clair Broiler). 
Go 1 block to Macalester Street.  Turn north (driving along the  
football and soccer fields) and go until the road turns.  
Olin Hall is the building directly north of the field. 
You will enter on the second floor.  You may park in the lot by the  
football field or in the one to the west of the building complex.

-- 
Paul Stachour          SCC, 1210 West County Rd E, Suite 100           
stachour@sctc.com          Arden Hills, MN  55112-3739
                             [1]-(612) 482-7467