Re: case sensitivity

[banderso@sagpd1.UUCP (Bruce Anderson)]

First off I appreciate the responses I have gotten on the case 
sensitivity issue. I still don't agree with them but I can see
how others might. 

On another subject, in one of the replies, David Papay comments:
>One last comment: Its too bad that many people feel "forced" to use Ada,
>as Mr. Anderson's company is.  Why is it that when a group of C, or FORTRAN, 
>or Pascal programmers get together (at a conference, workshop, et al), they're 
>there because they _want_ to, while when a group of Ada programmers get 
>together, many are there because they _have_ to?

I think that the primary reason people feel "forced" to use Ada is that 
they _ARE_ forced to use Ada. I may be wrong, but I don't think that most
companies who go out and design a microwave oven which happens to have a
processor in it are using C or Fortran or Pascal because the customer
won't buy it if they don't. They use a particular language because it
suits their environment best and _they_ get to decide what fits best.

Converting to a new language (any new language) is an expensive task and
Ada is more expensive than most. Not only do you have an extensive 
retraining process but a typical Ada cross compiler costs 10 to 15
times as much as a C cross compiler and the Ada compiler is very complex
and therefore requires more computer power for the same development
project. Because of this, many people do not see an economic reason
(and face it that's the real basis for decisions in a corporate
environment) to switch to Ada, if given a choice, particularly since 
the payback is very difficult to quantify. Also many people (and as a 
subclass programmers) get comfortable with what they know and _uncomfortable_ 
when they need to learn something new, especially when they need to learn 
it not because they are interested in it but because they _have_ to use it.

Personally, I feel that it is probably a good idea to switch to Ada 
or one of the other object oriented languages but I am enough of a 
rebel that when someone says "You've gotta do it", I tend to dig in
my heels a little. My impression of the people who usually read
(or at least post to) this group is that they are strong proponents
of Ada (as they should be). What I've tried to do here is describe
what many people on the outside are feeling.

Bruce Anderson - Scientific Atlanta, Government Products Div
...!sagpd1!banderso