Re: Ada to C Translator

["Tarjei Tj�stheim Jensen" <tarjei@online.no>]

Dave Ptacek wrote:
>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.

It all depends. NT is an unreliable platform as far as being a server is
concerned. The worst case scenario is having to re-install windows NT.
And I'm not talking about a hardware crash. The "must have all servers
on NT" wave has passed. Not completely, but now it is acceptable to have
something else.

My favourites for something which is placed at another site would be
either a VMS, Irix 6.5 or one of the BSD varieties. VMS because few know
it and it would be a real challenge to break into. An industrial
strength OS on cheap hardware. Irix because it has good tools for
patching and upgrades. It also has the best volume manager I have seen
to date. The various BSDs has been easier to install than any of the
Linuxes I have tried on the PCs I have available.

The best Linux to place outside ones own control would probably be
Debian. It seems to be the only one with a really good upgrade tool.
That upgrade tool seems to be better than the ones that come with the
BSD versions.

> 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.
> 

As far as technical computing is concerned, Ada and/or plain C would be
my choice. Ada has by far the best process for updating the language. I
might not agree that all choices are the best, but it is a really strong
language which fosters the right attitude for long term software
development. And it has the right customers which understands that they
are in for more than a short ride.

To me C/C++/Java/C# seems slightly risky as the language seems to
disintegrate into a number of dialects. Once they have started that, who
knows where it ends. Only C seems to have an eye to previous art. The
rest of the languages seems to be evolving and that means that anybody
who hitches a ride might get stranded in an inconvenient place. Getting
along with the rest might become expensive (read: you have to rewrite
code).

With regard to compiler availability: The same consolidation which have
occured with Ada is also occuring with C and C++. It is no accident that
Borland have made their C/C++ compiler available for free (you pay for
the development environment).

In the windows environment, I would not be surprised if there were more
Ada compiler vendors selling compilers than there are C++ vendors
selling C/C++ compilers. I think we for all intents and purposes have
one left; microsoft. That single vendor dependency would be a compelling
reason to use an other programming language.

Have you read the COTS Journal article on Ada? If you have, re-read
table 1. If not search for it in this newsgroup and visit!


Greetings,