Re: REaltime ADA

[Marin Condic <condicma@bogon.pwfl.com>]

Justin CHampion wrote:

> I am currently at Staffordshire Univeristy UK, looking at what ADA can
> do as a realtime language. Does nany one know of a good resource on the
> Internet that can help with this research. A lot of the webpages do not
> have any detail specifiy about the realtime capabilties of the language.
>

Ada was originally designed to support the development of realtime and
embedded applications, so the language has quite a bit of support for such
needs. You can find lots of information on this in the Ada Reference Manual
- most importantly in the area of Tasking (see ARM 9) Exceptions (ARM 11)
Representation Issues (ARM 13) Systems Programming (ARM Annex C) Real Time
Systems (ARM Annex D). These are at least my favorite picks for the more
significant features relating to realtime programming.

You can find the ARM both on-line and in postscript form at:
http://www.adahome.com/ You should also check my links page for other Ada
related sites which may be helpful with the language in general. (See:
http://www.mcondic.com/ and look specifically at the "Links" page.)

Remember that since the language was originally designed for realtime
systems, almost every feature of the language has to be considered in this
light. The syntax and semantics of almost everything had to consider
efficiency and safety, which are major concerns in this field. That's why
the ARM and the Annotated ARM can be very useful to study.

You might also want to make a pit-stop at some of the compiler vendor's web
pages (See my links page again) because if they are selling embedded
compilers they will almost certainly have to talk about the realtime
capabilities they support. If their pages don't tell you enough, go call
them on the phone and ask for more info. They ought to be willing to send
you some brochures, etc. which may help you at least start asking the right
questions of the search engines. For realtime/embedded compilers, you'll
probably want to look first and foremost at Aonix and Green Hills. (If there
are other vendors out there who would like to boast of their
cross-compilation technology, please drop me a line and I'll make sure to
put a link to your page on mine. Cross compilation is a very important topic
for me!)


MDC
--
Marin David Condic
I'm getting to be a real short-timer, so only pencil this into your
Rolodex.....
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
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