Re: Decline?

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

On Wed, 12 Mar 2008 08:00:36 -0700 (PDT), gpriv@axonx.com wrote:

> On Mar 12, 9:44 am, Thomas <tho...@kenshi.dk> wrote:

>> Today I stumbled on this fairly old (2003) paper on the merits (or lack
>> of!) of Ada.
>>
>> http://www.sei.cmu.edu/pub/documents/03.reports/pdf/03tn021.pdf
>>
>> As I'm a complete beginner in Ada, I have no way of knowing if this
>> paper is spot on, or way off.
>>
>> It doesn't really matter very much to me, as I'm just learnig Ada for
>> fun (and so far I'm having lots of fun!), but should I ever decide to
>> use it for any "real" projects, it's of course worth considering if the
>> author, Jim Smith, is right in his bleak conclusion:
>>
>> -----
>> Program managers considering the technical and programmatic risks of
>> incorporating specific programming languages in software-intensive
>> systems could reasonably -conclude that Ada is a programming language
>> with a dubious or nonexistent future.
>> -----

I doubt that they consider anything is a rational way...  I cannot remember
a case when language choice was a subject of a serious (rational)
consideration.

>> Sounds awfully dark and gloomy eh?

Yep, it has been sounded that way since 90s, almost 20 years, how
distressing... (:-))

>> So, what's your take on this? Is Ada still an important player? Did Ada
>> 2005 change anything?

I don't think so. Ada 2005 brought mainly cosmetic changes, and the
language technical merits is not an issue anyway.

>> Is all well and good in the Ada world, and Jim
>> Smith is simply blowing smoke out of his blowhole?

It is difficult to say. IMO Ada world is too fragmented.

> If popularity is the major criteria to choose the language we all
> should use VB.

Popularity is a measure of the language choices already made.

...
 I guess that the subject of an economical/sociological analysis is not
language recommendation, but merely a description of what's going on. These
are different things. Ada could be a better choice, but VB is chosen.

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