From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)
Subject: Ada9x Transition Plan (443 lines) ftp-ed from AJPO
Date: 24 Mar 91 22:05:27 GMT [thread overview]
Message-ID: <2916@sparko.gwu.edu> (raw)
DRAFT
ADA 9X TRANSITION PLAN
FEBRUARY 1991
Prepared by
Christine Anderson
Ada 9X Project Office
PREFACE
The purpose of this document is to specify a plan for transition-
ing from Ada 83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) to Ada 9X (ANSI/MIL-STD-
1815B). This document is being released in draft form for the
purpose of public review. Please send your comments to me by 1
May via one of the following means.
Postal Mail:
Chris Anderson
WL/MNAG
Eglin AFB FL 32542-5434
e-mail: anderson@uv4.eglin.af.mil
FAX: 904-882-2095
Attn: Chris Anderson
WL/MNAG
Thank you for your help.
CHRISTINE M. ANDERSON
Ada 9X Project Office
DRAFT
ADA 9X TRANSITION PLAN
February 1991
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this document is to specify a plan for transition-
ing from Ada 83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) to Ada 9X (ANSI/MIL-STD-
1815B). It is intended that these specifications will not replace
existing policy but rather supplement it. While recommendations
in this document are intended for use by Department of Defense
policy makers, they may also be useful to other organizations
that must develop policies for transitioning to Ada 9X. The
objective of the transition strategy is to expedite the realiza-
tion of Ada 9X benefits while minimizing disruption to the Ada
infrastructure (e.g., programmers, programs, tools, vendors,
training, educators, etc.).
1.1 BACKGROUND
The goal of the Department of Defense (DOD) sponsored Ada 9X
Project is to revise Ada 83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) to reflect
current essential requirements with minimum negative impact and
maximum positive impact to the Ada community. From the very
beginning of the Project in October 1988, the focus has been on
meeting user needs and the focus of the transition strategy is no
exception. All users (managers, programmers, vendors, educators,
and authors) must be carefully considered when developing the
transition strategy. Each has specific needs sometimes at odds
with the others. While it may be desirable from the managers' and
programmers' perspective to have the revised language features
available immediately, such expectations can not be met. Vendors
need sufficient time to upgrade their products to the revised
standard, while simultaneously supporting the needs of on-going
Ada 83 projects. Educators and authors also need time to assim-
ilate changes into curricula and text books. Thus, just as the
change to the language itself must achieve a delicate balance
between change and stability, so the transition strategy must
carefully balance hurrying Ada 9X to the market and slowing the
transition pace enough to minimize disruption to the existing
infrastructure and to facilitate a gradual evolution to the
revised standard.
The Ada 9X transition strategy is organized according to repre-
sentative segments of the Ada community: managers, programmers,
vendors, educators/authors.
2. MANAGERS
When it comes time to transition to Ada 9X, managers will obvi-
ously be concerned with when to require the use of Ada 9X on new
and existing projects.
2.1 NEW PROJECTS
The use of Ada 9X (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815B) shall be specified for all
projects starting immediately after Ada 9X is an approved
ANSI/MIL Standard. If the program manager determines there are
no satisfactory Ada 9X compilers available, then Ada 83
(ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) shall be used. Waivers/exceptions for not
using Ada (Ada 9X or Ada 83) apply as before as directed by the
governing agency.
2.2 EXISTING PROJECTS
For existing Ada 83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) or non-Ada projects,
transitioning to Ada 9X (ANSI/MIL-1815B) shall occur if one or
more of the following conditions is met. Note, "transitioning"
herein means added/modified software must be in Ada; it does not
mean existing software must be redesigned in Ada.
(a) The Program Manager/Principal Investigator determines
that Ada 9X brings necessary/desirable functionality to the
project.
(b) A major project upgrade (i.e., 33% addition/change of
code) is planned and less than five years has elapsed since Ada
9X was approved by ANSI. If there are no suitable Ada 9X
(ANSI/MIL-STD-1815B) compilers available for the host/target
combination then Ada 83 (ANSI/MIL-STD-1815A) shall be the lan-
guage of choice. Waivers/exceptions to not use Ada (Ada 9X or Ada
83) apply as directed by the governing agency.
(c) A major project upgrade (i.e., 33% addition/change of
code) is planned and five or more years has elapsed since Ada 9X
(ANSI/MIL-STD-1815B) was approved. Waivers/exceptions to not use
Ada 9X apply as directed by the governing agency.
In cases where the project stays with Ada 83, validated or
"project validated" Ada 83 compilers must be used for delivery of
operational software (see section 4.4.1 and the Ada Joint Program
Office Ada Compiler Validation Procedures document.
2.3 MANAGERS WORKSHOP
In order to help managers transition to Ada 9X there will be an
Ada 9X Managers Workshop just prior to ANSI/MIL approval (approx-
imately March 1993). Transition issues and strategies will be
discussed.
3. PROGRAMMERS
3.1 ADA 9X PROGRAMMERS GUIDE
In order to help programmers transition to Ada 9X an "Ada 9X
Programmers Guide" will be developed. This guide will highlight
the changes between Ada 9X and Ada 83 chapter by chapter and
discuss programming strategies utilizing new features. Any
incompatibilities between Ada 9X and Ada 83 will also be noted
and straight-forward modifications to Ada 83 code will be provid-
ed for transformation to equivalent legal Ada 9X code. Suggested
Ada 83 coding practices to make the transition to Ada 9X easier
will also be discussed for those programmers continuing to use
Ada 83 on existing projects.
3.2 FREE EDUCATIONAL ADA 9X COMPILATION SYSTEM
In the interest of introducing students to the many benefits of
Ada at minimal cost, an extremely user-friendly Ada 9X compila-
tion system, consisting of a compiler, library system, linker,
run-time system and debugger for commonly available platforms
(e.g., SUN/UNIX or PC/DOS), will be developed for educational
purposes. This system will be made available to accredited
universities free of charge. Some level of maintenance is envi-
sioned. Since this system is for educational purposes only, and
there is no intent to compete with industry but rather to stimu-
late the market, it may be that certain features of the language
are not supported; however validation of implemented features
will be required. It is intended that the developer be solicited
through a Broad Area Announcement in FY 92. Ideally, proven off-
the-shelf tools shall be the basis of this system.
4. VENDORS
Vendors supply the necessary user support tools. Vendor products
must not only meet user needs but their compilers must also pass
validation tests, the Ada Compiler Validation Capability (ACVC),
designed to check for conformance to the language standard. The
current ACVC process, just as the language, requires minor ad-
justments occasionally to better serve the Ada community. To
ease the transition impact to vendors, the Ada 9X transition
strategy includes vendor workshops; a revised ACVC test suite; a
revised ACVC test suite release schedule; and adjustments to the
ACVC policy and review process.
4.1 VENDOR WORKSHOPS
During the Ada 9X revision process, several Vendor Workshops will
be conducted. The purpose of these workshops will be to allow
vendors to closely track the revision and to provide feedback to
Ada 9X Teams regarding implementability.
4.2 ACVC TEST SUITE REVISION
The Ada Joint Program Office has directed the freeze of the
current Ada 83 test suite, ACVC 1.11. Under the Ada 9X Project,
one more release for Ada 83 will be issued, ACVC 1.11X which will
be based on ACVC 1.11 and draft ACVC 1.12 (which was never offi-
cially released). ACVC 1.11X will remove Ada 83/Ada 9X incompat-
ibilities, and will attempt to increase the focus on expected
usage of the language. Accordingly, the ACVC 1.11X will contain
approximately 135,000 LOC counting semi-colons (about 3000
tests); a reduction of about 25% from the current level of
187,650 LOC (about 4000 tests). This reduction in size and
increased focus on expected usage reflects a change in testing
philosophy based on seven years of experience in using the ACVC.
The original testing philosophy was to expose compiler errors,
whether or not an error was likely to be encountered by users or
would have been considered a significant defect by programmers.
The new, usage-based testing philosophy is to focus on potential
non-conformities that would impair the actual use of the lan-
guage. The change of testing philosophy is intended to enable
vendors to expend more effort on quality improvements of interest
to their customers while ensuring that Ada compilers, as used in
practice, still conform to the standard.
The first Ada 9X ACVC test suite will be ACVC 2.0 which will add
approximately 400 tests (about 26,000 LOC representing 50% Ada 9X
test objective coverage). The second ACVC test suite will be
ACVC 2.1 which will add approximately 400 more test (about 26,000
LOC representing the remaining 50% Ada 9X test objective cover-
age).
Furthermore, continued growth of the ACVC test suite will be
prohibited. Tests may be modified/added/deleted but a fixed
ceiling of approximately 3800 tests (187,000 LOC) will be estab-
lished.
The increased focus on usage and the prohibition of continued
growth is expected to provide vendors with more time to concen-
trate on meeting users special requirements for optimization and
high quality tools.
4.3 ACVC RELEASE SCHEDULE
The following schedule describes the ACVC test availability dates
(the start date when a new ACVC test suite is available for public
review and comment), the ACVC official release date (the start
date a vendor can validate under a new ACVC test suite), the ACVC
test expiration dates (the end date a vendor can validate a
compiler under that ACVC test suite), and the ACVC certificate
expiration dates (the date validation certificates cease to be
valid).
In Use In Use Certificate
ACVC Available (Start Date) (End Date) (Exp. Date)
1.11 15 Jul 89 1 Dec 89 1 Jun 92 1 Mar 93
*1.11X 1 Mar 92 1 Mar 92 1 Sep 93 1 Sep 94
2.0 1 Mar 93 1 Sep 93 1 Mar 95 1 Mar 96
2.1 1 Sep 94 1 Mar 95
* ACVC 1.11X will be released for validation with no further
public review since it is based on ACVC 1.11 and draft ACVC 1.12.
4.4 ACVC POLICY
Validation of Ada 9X compilers will be required as for Ada 83
compilers. However, in the spirit of a gradual transition, cer-
tain concessions are being made that allow, for a limited time,
validation of Ada 9X compilers that do not implement all Ada 9X
features yet. The general policy of not permitting supersets
beyond Ada 9X will remain in effect. (For more information see
the Ada Compiler Validation Procedures document available from
the Ada Joint Program Office.)
4.4.1 ACVC 1.11X
Vendors will be able to start validating Ada 9X features under
ACVC 1.11X, as soon as Ada 9X is approved by ANSI, listing Ada 9X
features (above Ada 83 features) included in the compiler in
Appendix F. Only Ada 9X features may be added; non-conforming
functionality is prohibited and will result in non-validated
status. Although the end-use date for ACVC 1.11X is 1 Sep 93,
vendors whose customers wish to continue to use Ada 83 and to
continue to check the conformity of their compilers may do so by
seeking "project validation." Ada Validation Facilities will
continue to offer project validation under ACVC 1.11X after ACVC
2.0 is issued and will produce Validation Summary Reports; howev-
er validation certificates will not be issued. For the Project
Office that does not want to upgrade to Ada 9X, this approach
offers an acceptable option to ensure conformance to Ada 83.
4.4.2 ACVC 2.0
Vendors validating under ACVC 2.0 will be allowed to support less
than full Ada 9X functionality (i.e., approximately 50% Ada 9X
test objective coverage will be included in ACVC 2.0); however
they must list Ada 9X features supported in the compiler in
Appendix F. As a minimum, the compiler must support features
included in ACVC 2.0.
4.5 ACVC REVIEW PROCESS
The current ACVC review process already includes a six month
review period but intense efforts to solicit vendor review are
lacking. The review process will include workshops at the start
of a review period to solicit vendor response on a more personal
basis with ACVC test suite developers explaining test objectives,
tests, and rationale. Furthermore, a new expert reviewers group
will be established. This group, the ACVC Reviewers, will consist
of approximately eight world-class Ada experts composed of
vendors, application users, and language interpreters. This group
will have a chair and will participate with the Ada Validation
Office (AVO), the Ada Maintenance Organization (AMO) and the Ada
Validation Facility (AVF) Managers in the ACVC process.
Furthermore, the ACVC Reviewers will review ACVC test objectives
and tests prior to each public review period.
___________ __________ __________
l Ada BOARD l --- l AJPO l ---l ISO WG9 l
l __________l l__________l l_________ l
l
_______l________
l l l
l l l
______ ______ ___________
l AVO l l AMO l l ACVC l
l_____l l_____l l REVIEWERSl
l l l _________l
l l
______ _______
l AVFs l l ACVC l
l_____ l l TEAM l
l______l
5. EDUCATORS/AUTHORS
During the Ada 9X revision process, a workshop will be conducted
for educators and authors to present changes to the language as
they may impact current Ada curricula and text books. Suggested
teaching aids such as illustrative programming examples will be
offered.
6. DISTRIBUTION
The language reference manual and rationale document for Ada 9X
will be made available to the general public at low cost as for
Ada 83. They will be available in electronic and hard copy form.
Permission will be freely granted to copy either document in its
entirety without alteration or as altered by (1) adding text that
is clearly marked as an insertion; (2) shading or highlighting
existing text; or (3) deleting examples.
7. MAINTENANCE
7.1 ON-GOING MAINTENENCE
A body of language experts ( the Ada Rapporteur Group [ARG] and
the Uniformity Rapporteur Group [URG] working as part of ISO-
IEC/JTC1/SC22/WG9) has been the authority on interpreting the Ada
83 standard in cases of ambiguities and resolving contradictions
in the standard. It is envisioned that this process will contin-
ue, with essentially an unaltered charter, to perform these
maintenance activities for the Ada 9X standard. It is also envi-
sioned that a very close connection will exist between ISO WG9
and the Ada validation process. Specifically the Ada Maintenance
Organization (AMO), the ACVC Team and the ACVC Reviewers shall
ensure that ISO WG9 language interpretations are reflected in
ACVC tests (either by adding or removing tests). Furthermore, the
Ada Validation Office (AVO) shall ensure that test disputes are
passed to ISO WG9 in a timely and appropriate manner so that they
may be considered in the interpretation process.
7.2 NEXT REVISION/REAFFIRMATION
The AJPO as the ANSI agent for Ada 9X will monitor the status of
Ada usage and determine at the five year anniversary of the
standard if reaffirmation/revision is in order, and initiate
appropriate action as necessary.
8. ASSOCIATED/SECONDARY STANDARDS
The existence of Ada 9X associated/secondary standards will play
a vital role in the successful transition to Ada 9X. It is
envisioned that ISO WG-9 will hasten the development of these
standards to the maximum extent possible.
next reply other threads:[~1991-03-24 22:05 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 20+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1991-03-24 22:05 Michael Feldman [this message]
1991-03-26 2:39 ` Ada9x Transition Plan (443 lines) ftp-ed from AJPO Jim Showalter
1991-03-26 14:45 ` Michael Feldman
1991-03-26 17:10 ` Cheap/Free Ada (was: Ada9x Transition) Jerry Callen
1991-03-26 21:32 ` Michael Feldman
1991-03-26 23:22 ` Dan L. Pierson
1991-03-27 21:00 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-27 18:58 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-29 1:47 ` Jerry Callen
1991-03-26 17:38 ` Ada9x Transition Plan (443 lines) ftp-ed from AJPO Steve Vestal
1991-03-26 21:28 ` Michael Feldman
1991-03-27 20:58 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-28 14:24 ` Dennis Doubleday
1991-03-29 3:31 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-29 5:55 ` Michael Feldman
1991-03-29 21:29 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-26 22:50 ` jncs
1991-03-27 3:15 ` Jim Showalter
1991-03-31 14:47 ` Ralph Reid III
1991-03-26 20:33 ` ACVC policy (was Re: Ada9x Transition Plan) madmats
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