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From: Steve O'Neill <oneills@top.monad.net>
Subject: Re: NT kernel-mode device drivers in Ada?
Date: 1997/06/02
Message-ID: <339336BB.602D@top.monad.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 246243216
References: <5mr324$8im@ion1.ionet.net>
Organization: Sanders
Reply-To: oneills@top.monad.net
Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada
Date: 1997-06-02T00:00:00+00:00
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>


Mike D Bates wrote:
> 
> Could use some help in answering yet another objection to Ada.  Has
> anyone here successfully implemented an NT kernel-mode device driver.
> A FAQ on the subject (http://www.cmkrnl.com/faq.html) says that using
> anything but C for this purpose would be like swimming upstream with a
> brick in each hand.  Can anyone cite experience to the contrary?

Is there some reason why you would not want to use the best (i.e. most
effective) language in its appropriate domain?  If you don't relish
swimming upstream with bricks then don't.  Use C (or the advisable
portions of C++) for the device driver development where it appears to
have advantages in terms of productivity.  Use Ada for the majority of
the simulator where, IMHO, it definitely has productivity advantages. 
Provide and Ada interface to the driver.

Just because it's what NT was written in and is the best supported
language to write drivers in doesn't mean that C should be the only
language used to develop the entire application.

I doubt that the cost of the two compilers combined could even come
close to the cost incurred by using Ada for driver development or C for
simulation development and support.

Steve O'Neill