Re: Do we need "Mission-Critical" software? Was: What to Do?

[Jerry Petrey <jdpetrey@west.raytheon.com>]

Robert Dewar wrote:
> 
> In article <93f9tu$p2r$1@nnrp1.deja.com>,
>   n_brunot@my-deja.com wrote:
> > I suggest you send questions to big software companies about
> > Jovial to amuse them :-)
> 
> Chuckle chuckle, I guess you did NOT bother to look up Jovial.
> As I say, it is surprising for people using Ada to have so
> little awareness of the history of the development of the
> language.
> 
> > The world is greater than you think, I even know software
> > companies not  aware of ACT existence, and you must have
> > missed some things more
> > important than Jovial and currently going on ... :-))
> 
> I think you will find that there are few programming languages
> that are or have every been in serious use with which I am not
> familiar (this is after all my field of research :-)
> 
> > Guess what ? few people are still using Intel 286 and a lot
> > of software companies don't support it any more !!!
> 
> 286's are most certainly used in a number of embedded
> applications. It is also important to remember that Rad
> hardened parts often come out LONG after the normal consumer
> chips, so space apps are often using what seem to be quite
> old processors. Also, old processors almost never die (just
> as old languages tend not to die off completely), a lot of
> work is still being done on the 1750, and Vaxes are I think
> still being manufactured (or perhaps they just stopped this
> month?)
> 
> P.S. Poor old Jules, it seems sad that there would be people
> who consider themselves Ada knowledgable who have not heard
> of JOVIAL :-)
> 
> Sent via Deja.com
> http://www.deja.com/


Robert, it is also sad to me that so many "programmers" and "software
engineers"
today don't treat our science like other sciences.  Can you imagine a
physicist
who wouldn't study the works of Newton, Bohr, or Rutherford because they
were
"born before his time".  In software today it seems like people just
want to 
get into it fast, learn the latest 'in' language and start making
money.  Perhaps
that is why there is so much bad software out there.

Jerry
-- 
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-- Jerry Petrey                                                
-- Senior Principal Systems Engineer - Navigation, Guidance, & Control
-- Raytheon Missile Systems          - Member Team Ada & Team
Forth                
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