Re: What's stopping you from using Ada for your next commercial project?

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

On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:27:49 +0100, Thomas L�cke wrote:

> On 2011-03-10 12:12, Dmitry A. Kazakov wrote:
>> Ada 2005 was not that big step forward.
> 
> That makes it even more odd/annoying that 6 years down the line, someone
> like Maciej still can't use plain Ada 2005 features without running into
> compiler issues/errors.

It was 15(?) years before C++ templates became usable without issues, are
they now? Compare investments into C++ compilers with ones into Ada.

My take is that Ada 2005 introduced features, which brought less to the
programmer, but required more on the compiler designer. AdaCore does not
have necessary resources to fix everything quickly.

> Or have I perhaps missed Maciej's original point?

His point was that he has no issues with C++ compilers. That makes me
wonder what kind of projects he does, because we have huge issues with the
compilers we are using (VC++, Borland C++, gcc). It is just so that nobody
would expect a C++ program compilable by two compilers. It takes a huge
amount of work to do, even if the program uses no external template or
class libraries. Comparing to this, porting from ObjectAda to GNAT was
almost trivial, even with Win32 bindings used.

>> GNAT Pro is such a compiler, at least we are using it as such.
> 
> Yea, I wish I could afford it, but AFAIK AdaCore doesn't really cater to
> the SOHO crowd, which is sad for someone like me.  :o)

Yes, this is IMO an error on the AdaCore's side. They underestimate the
leverage of low-end marked. They aren't the first. There were IBM, DEC, Sun
before them. But that is their decision...

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