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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,9ab76c2183ecc054 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-01-02 11:22:56 PST Path: supernews.google.com!sn-xit-02!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!logbridge.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!newsfeed.ksu.edu!nntp.ksu.edu!onews.collins.rockwell.com!not-for-mail From: Dave Ptacek Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada to C Translator Date: Tue, 02 Jan 2001 12:07:55 -0600 Organization: Rockwell International Message-ID: <3A5218FB.41FDD@collins.rockwell.com> References: <92fk1v0cou@drn.newsguy.com> <92fqlt$h8d$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <3A4CF58B.A8FF223C@collins.rockwell.com> <92qfj7$7l9$1@nnrp1.deja.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gatekeeper.collins.rockwell.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.51 [en]C-CCK-MCD (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: supernews.google.com comp.lang.ada:3571 Date: 2001-01-02T12:07:55-06:00 List-Id: Wow, I guessed I really stepped in to delicate topic here. All of the replies had good information and points that should really be addressed before starting an Ada to C/C++ port. By the way Robert, thanks for putting on the unbiased hat and defending some of the rather opinionated views. I knew that I was approaching blasphemy with my post considering it was to a bunch of Ada people, but was hoping I worded it tactfully enough so that I wouldn't step into a religious war. I think I succeeded on that one although maybe the group took pity on a relative "newbie" to the group, I certainly did not mean to offend anyone. I will once again emphasize that finding perspective new employees to help us with our legacy Ada test equipment application is indeed a problem (now I'm NOT speaking for the rest of the products developed here, nor for the company in general). Considering our test solutions have a lifespan of 20-25 (maybe more) years, selecting a language and lineage of toolsets has a large impact on future costs. We started with Ada because the companies commitment to it in the mid-80's, and even then our group bucked the trend and chose the Alsys Ada compiler over the companies preferred toolset. As most of you know, Alsys essentially left the market in the early 90's and we've been running with an unsupported, possibly obsolete, compiler ever since. We did have 4-5 years of support prior to them leaving which gave us a good indication of what could be done and shouldn't be done in Ada while using Alsys. We certainly couldn't have achieved the level of success without the Alsys Ada compiler. However, we now find ourselves in the middle of the technology evolution that seems to change every 3-6 months depending on the particular technology of interest. Contrary to the belief of some people, DOS is not dead and you can still buy licenses for DOS today. The same cannot be said for Win3.1, Win3.11, and soon Win95. It would be foolish to not acknowledge the writing on the wall and stay with DOS, and considering the widespread usage of WinNT, it seems to be the best offering from Microsoft at this time. I do believe Microsoft will always provide some "upgrade" path from NT 4.0 to 2000 to etc. as there are just too many Microsoft apps that need will need to be "upgraded" as well. Jumping on that bandwagon appears to have some merit. I personally have considered a Linux solution, but the logistics haven't been worked yet. We have well over 200 test stations around the world in service centers and customer facilities, coordinating a PC swap, getting the station running and connecting it up to the internal network(s) available appears to be a rather large effort. And yes, most of the networks are using NT servers. I would be interested in some suggestions as to what languages and toolsets would be viable alternatives for maintaining a program 15 - 20 years into the future. Please try to take the Ada hat off before you respond, it still might be your choice, attempt to rationalize it with reasonable statements, consider the logistical situation noted above and lastly this is not a "deep pocket" program so funds are limited. I'm rambling again and have probably stepped into yet another delicate topic... thanks, Dave