Re: From extended Pascals to Ada 95 guide

["Marin D. Condic" <mcondic-nospam@acm.org>]

David Botton wrote:
> You can get all the components from one vendor with documentation and all.
> You don't have to hunt and peck for pieces. GNAT, GtkAda, GNATCOM, and GLIDE
> are all available from a single source. They are all integrated and work
> from the same IDE, no roll your own here.
> 
Well, I've downloaded the various versions of GNAT for the PC and the
other tools don't seem to come with it. Maybe they can be had, but its
not all in one self-extracting file or even in the same directory. I've
found GtkAda on the web as a separate entity and got the impression that
the Windows version was not quite mature yet - maybe still usable. If
all that stuff is integrated nicely, maybe it ought to be in a single
install file somewhere?

If you have to go to ACT to get it as a supported customer, then the
situation changes. I can currently go to the local computer store and
plunk down a few hundred dollars and get a shrink-wrap kit from
Micro$oft that includes documentation in printed and CD-ROM format and a
subscription for quarterly updates. (I do not delude myself into
believing I get any real support, but mostly in this context, I don't
really need it.) The last time I talked to ACT about being a supported
customer (different context), the price tag was a bit higher than that -
maybe more than 30x. Bzzzzzzt! Wrong answer! Can't afford that kind of
price tag for this level of development and don't need that much
support.



> BTW, you may not have been working yet with MSVC++ long enough yet, but as
> your project grows you will find that you need to dump much of what comes
> packaged with MSVC++ for less bug prone components. You will need to build a
> build enviorment that uses a different make then, MS's. You will need to get
> a different dependancy generating tool. You will need to get a _correct_
> standard library implementation, MS's is broken and poorly optimized. You
> will need configuration management that works.. etc. etc. I and other long
> time MSVC developers know that long term profession development with MSVC
> means throwing away have of what MS delivers and then hunting down the tools
> that work.
> 
I have no illusions about the overall quality of MSVC++. I have already
run into a number of compiler bugs and related problems. Its a complex
piece of software that is (probably) written in C++. (I rest my case!
:-) Yes, many features have problems and the language itself makes
matters worse (dependency, for example) so I know it is far from
perfect. And remember, I'm a big fan of Ada so I'm not trying to make
excuses for MSVC++ just because I don't want to use Ada. I'm just saying
I have to give MSVC++ some credit for having put together a spiffy
environment that gets you to market very fast and appears to be more
advanced (or at least all in one place) than what I've seen of Ada
programming environments.

Being an "old timer" I have absolutely no problems with a command line
compiler and in many ways, I'd prefer to work that way. I've seen some
IDEs that I thought spent more time getting in your way than anything
else. (I don't generally like all the "help" that IDEs try to give you
in terms of project management.) But I have to conceed that there are
advantages to what you get from a full-up toolset like MSVC++ . 

> Delphi and Ada are both much better solututions on every level including
> packaging :-)
> 
Don't know Delphi. Ada is a better language - no argument. I'd like to
see a kit that uses Ada and is feature-wise/price-wise competitive with
MSVC++. If its out there, I've just not bumped into it. Point me at a
URL. Thanks.

MDC
-- 
======================================================================
Marin David Condic - Quadrus Corporation - http://www.quadruscorp.com/
Send Replies To: m c o n d i c @ q u a d r u s c o r p . c o m
Visit my web site at:  http://www.mcondic.com/

    "Take away the punchbowl just when the party gets going" 

        --  William McChesney Martin, Former Fed chairman, explaining 
            what a sound central bank must always do. 
======================================================================