From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.2 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 146b77,d275ffeffdf83655 X-Google-Attributes: gid146b77,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,d275ffeffdf83655 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: f5d71,d275ffeffdf83655 X-Google-Attributes: gidf5d71,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,d275ffeffdf83655 X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public From: Marin David Condic Subject: Re: Ada vs C++ vs Java Date: 1999/02/09 Message-ID: <36C055A1.C532E730@pwfl.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 442437288 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: condicma@bogon.pwfl.com References: <369C1F31.AE5AF7EF@concentric.net> <369DDDC3.FDE09999@sea.ericsson.se> <369e309a.32671759@news.demon.co.uk> <77ledn$eu7$1@remarQ.com> <77pnqc$cgi$1@newnews.global.net.uk> <8p64spq5lo5.fsf@Eng.Sun.COM> <77t3ld$nou$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <79ce4s$lfq$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <79chc7$ko6@drn.newsguy.com> <79dodb$rhf$1@nnrp1.dejanews.com> <79jeos$bu4@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net> <79k65l$s0t@drn.newsguy.com> <79kd5j$q5r@bgtnsc01.worldnet.att.net> <36BF8D71.99F33624@linkline.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Organization: Pratt & Whitney Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: diespammer@pwfl.com Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada,comp.lang.c++,comp.vxworks,comp.lang.java Date: 1999-02-09T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: Fredric L. Rice wrote: > > In the OS/2 world it does. The VisualAge C+ compiler comes with a suit of > APIs for launching and managing multi-threaded as well as multi-tasking (well, > pseudo multitasking, I suppose) applications. > The problem here is that you are looking at one implementation of the language on one platform. In addition, it is not the "language" which is giving you the feature - although in many people's minds there is no distinction made. It is the OS which is providing the feature, with the language merely giving you a method of connecting to the OS calls. On WinNT at least, the Win32ada interface (supplied with GNAT 3.11p) gives you that exact same capability. Ada originally had a requirement (and still does) to be designed with a high degree of portability in mind. Whatever features the language standard specified needed to be done in such a way that they could be implemented on just about anything from bare hardware, to PCs & workstations to mainframes. To a very large extent, Ada has succeeded in this goal. Just look at all the platforms to which GNAT is ported. And then visit the web pages for Aonix, Green Hills, et alia to find even more targets. Ada's direct language support for multi-threading was necessary because in the embedded, realtime world you are working on bare silicon and basically have to write your own operating system. (Among other things, that's what I do for a living :-) The availability of tasks makes this a snap. If you are developing for machines running WinNT or Unix the compiler will presumably (but is not required to) map the task structures onto supporting OS calls. So with Ada, you get the ability to do multi-threading in a wide array of environments with everything looking identical to the programmer. C/C++ may give you that capability indirectly by supplying you with an interface to the OS calls and you can "roll your own", but this is quite obviously not easily ported, nor is the knowledge/learning curve of the programmer. Yes, you can get there from here, but its just easier with Ada. MDC -- Marin David Condic Real Time & Embedded Systems, Propulsion Systems Analysis United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney, Large Military Engines M/S 731-95, P.O.B. 109600, West Palm Beach, FL, 33410-9600 Ph: 561.796.8997 Fx: 561.796.4669 ***To reply, remove "bogon" from the domain name.*** "Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is a force. Like fire, a dangerous servant and a fearful master." -- George Washington