Ada for a Fortran programmer

Ada for a Fortran programmer

[GianLuigi Piacentini]

Hi all,
I'm a Fortran 9X programmer, and I will probably pick a job requiring to
program some embedded system (no rocket science, I was told one of that
system will control a sterilization device).  I was told that C is the
only high level language available for the (at this writing yet
unspecified) micro in such system.  But for what I know Ada should be a
better choice ...
So:
1) There are Ada tutorials geared towards Fortran programmers ?
2) Are there Ada compilers/translators with a C output for situation in
which C is the only high level language available ?

Thanks in advance for your reply
Gigi Piacentini

Re: Ada for a Fortran programmer

[Ted Dennison]

Jeff Carter wrote:

> GianLuigi Piacentini wrote:
> > 2) Are there Ada compilers/translators with a C output for situation in
> > which C is the only high level language available ?
>
> There is at least one such creature. I'm sure Tucker Taft will reply
> with specific contact information.

In case you are impatient, the company's name is Averstar. The best contact
info I could find on their web page is adainfo@averstar.com. But I couldn't
find any mention the Ada-C translator (it *used* to be up there). I can
remember a day when you could actually find information on their website...

--
T.E.D.

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Re: Ada for a Fortran programmer

[Tucker Taft]

GianLuigi Piacentini wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> I'm a Fortran 9X programmer, and I will probably pick a job requiring to
> program some embedded system (no rocket science, I was told one of that
> system will control a sterilization device).  I was told that C is the
> only high level language available for the (at this writing yet
> unspecified) micro in such system.  But for what I know Ada should be a
> better choice ...
> So:
> 1) There are Ada tutorials geared towards Fortran programmers ?
> 2) Are there Ada compilers/translators with a C output for situation in
> which C is the only high level language available ?

As pointed out by others, we do have an Ada compiler
that generates optimized ANSI C as its intermediate code.
This has been used successfully on SPARC Solaris, and
on ADI's SHARC DSP.  This technology is readily adaptable
to other hosts/targets, so long as the existing C compiler
is relatively robust.

> 
> Thanks in advance for your reply
> Gigi Piacentini

-- 
-Tucker Taft   stt@averstar.com   http://www.averstar.com/~stt/
Technical Director, Commercial Division, AverStar (formerly Intermetrics)
(http://www.averstar.com/services/IT_consulting.html)  Burlington, MA  USA

Re: Ada for a Fortran programmer

[Jeff Carter]

GianLuigi Piacentini wrote:
> But for what I know Ada should be a
> better choice ...

Very often true.

> So:
> 1) There are Ada tutorials geared towards Fortran programmers ?

I don't know about FORTRAN specifically, but you should be able to find
several acceptable tutorials at www.adapower.com.

> 2) Are there Ada compilers/translators with a C output for situation in
> which C is the only high level language available ?

There is at least one such creature. I'm sure Tucker Taft will reply
with specific contact information.

-- 
Jeff Carter
"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."
Monty Python & the Holy Grail