Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Ian Clifton]

This has come up before in comp.lang.ada, but it's nice to see that
Ada has done well again in the regular Computer Weekly "Skills most in
demand" survey, based on UK job advertisements. Ada is up 34% to
position 15, the only programming language in the list of top 25
skills to increase in demand. C++, Java, Visual Basic and C still
occupy higher positions, but all fell by between 29% and 40%.

-- 
Ian Clifton                   Phone: +44 1865 275631
Dyson Perrins Laboratory      Fax:   +44 1865 275674
Oxford University  OX1 3QY UK ian.clifton@linacre.ox.ac.uk

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Tarjei T. Jensen]

Ian Clifton wrote
>This has come up before in comp.lang.ada, but it's nice to see that
>Ada has done well again in the regular Computer Weekly "Skills most in
>demand" survey, based on UK job advertisements. Ada is up 34% to
>position 15, the only programming language in the list of top 25
>skills to increase in demand. C++, Java, Visual Basic and C still
>occupy higher positions, but all fell by between 29% and 40%.

The arcticle is named "Falling down" and is dated 16-May-2001.

I found it by searching for "skill survey ada" on the advanced search page.
The start date was 01 april 2001.


Greetings,

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Marin David Condic]

I am guessing this is a play on the movie of the same title? (Premise: Laid
off C++/Java programmers with outdated skills find themselves unemployable
and "go postal"?)

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


"Tarjei T. Jensen" <tarjei.jensen@kvaerner.com> wrote in message
news:9e42t5$2qf1@news.kvaerner.com...
> The arcticle is named "Falling down" and is dated 16-May-2001.
>
> I found it by searching for "skill survey ada" on the advanced search
page.
> The start date was 01 april 2001.

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Tarjei T. Jensen]

Marin David Condic wrote in message <9e44es$mkd$1@nh.pace.co.uk>...
>I am guessing this is a play on the movie of the same title? (Premise: Laid
>off C++/Java programmers with outdated skills find themselves unemployable
>and "go postal"?)

Probably.

Although "unemployable" is a bit strong. Although those in question might
feel that way until the situation stabilizes.


Greetings,

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Tarjei T. Jensen]

The article can be found at the bottom of
http://www.cw360.com/article&rd=&i=&ard=101919

Greetings,

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Marin David Condic]

The relevant quote is:

===============================================
The other top 25 skill to show growth relative to the first quarter of 2000
is Ada, which is enjoying the greatest popularity it has ever known. It
featured in 530 ads this time, placing it 15th.
================================================

That's an interesting number - I wish we had information about this for the
US - not just the UK. I'd suspect that Ada is doing better in the UK than in
the US - but that's gut reaction, not data. But of course if Ada usage
expands anywhere, that is a good thing because it is likely to spill over
into other markets eventually.

And then:

==============================================
None of the Ada requirement came from the public sector. Software houses
accounted for well over a third of the Ada opportunities, while one in 10 of
these jobs was offered by a computer supplier - in this sector league table
Ada lies third, behind only C and C++.
==============================================

Its nice to know Ada is doing so well outside of government circles. Maybe
it is an example of "Military Intelligence"? As the military abandons Ada to
start trend-following, the private sector starts "discovering" Ada.

Not sure what they mean by "Software Houses". Would that be vendors such as
Microsoft who are building products for sale or would that be companies
providing some form of software services to non-computer-businesses? What is
a "Software House"? What do they do? How big are they on average? And what
are they specifically doing with Ada?

Similarly, what is meant by "computer supplier"? And why would they want Ada
programmers? Would we be talking about a computer manufacturer like IBM or
Compaq? And if so, what would they be doing with Ada?

=================================================
Among other industries, Ada is most in demand in the engineering sector,
which again accounts for one in 10 of the jobs on offer. Here also Ada is in
third place, behind C and C++ again. Engineering companies are also keen on
Pascal and account for fully a half of all demand for this language.
=================================================

That makes sense. In engineering applications, the emphasis is not so
heavily skewed towards time-to-market where the language with the spiffiest
development kit & accesories to leverage make the language a winner. In the
engineering realm, one is more apt to be concentrating on a central core of
code that is complex, has to work properly, and will stick around for a good
long time. GUI building, databases, etc. (while they are used and are
important) do not become the focal point, so Ada's relative lack of
development accessories doesn't hurt it so much. Its benefits get to shine.

I think that suggests where to focus the Ada marketing effort.

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/

"Tarjei T. Jensen" <tarjei.jensen@kvaerner.com> wrote in message
news:9e5d32$2qf4@news.kvaerner.com...
> The article can be found at the bottom of
> http://www.cw360.com/article&rd=&i=&ard=101919
>
> Greetings,
>
>
>

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Martin Dowie]

I met someone (hi Jorg!) from Philips Semiconductor at Ada-Europe 2001,
who use it in machine control in chip fabrication plants (if I'm not
correct in this perhaps Jorg could help!)

> Would we be talking about a computer manufacturer like IBM or
> Compaq? And if so, what would they be doing with Ada?

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Mark]

Marin David Condic <marin.condic.auntie.spam@pacemicro.com> wrote in message
news:9eb6md$3bt$1@nh.pace.co.uk...
> The relevant quote is:
>
> =================================================
> Among other industries, Ada is most in demand in the engineering sector,
> which again accounts for one in 10 of the jobs on offer. Here also Ada is
in
> third place, behind C and C++ again. Engineering companies are also keen
on
> Pascal and account for fully a half of all demand for this language.
> =================================================
>
> That makes sense. In engineering applications, the emphasis is not so
> heavily skewed towards time-to-market where the language with the
spiffiest
> development kit & accesories to leverage make the language a winner. In
the
> engineering realm, one is more apt to be concentrating on a central core
of
> code that is complex, has to work properly, and will stick around for a
good
> long time. GUI building, databases, etc. (while they are used and are
> important) do not become the focal point, so Ada's relative lack of
> development accessories doesn't hurt it so much. Its benefits get to
shine.
>
> I think that suggests where to focus the Ada marketing effort.
>
> MDC
> --
> Marin David Condic
> Senior Software Engineer
> Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
> Enabling the digital revolution
> e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
> Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/


From an industrial engineer's view, outside of the computer programming
industry, I too have noticed the increase in demand for Ada skilled
programmers in the UK. Most of it being military applications though,
particlarly because of the Eurofighter project.

I am seriously considering Ada when looking to work in the programming
industry. (I'll probably be too late for the gold rush, but what the heck!)

Mark Antony
(Yes the one and only)


P.S How do the words go in that song....

Military Intelligence, two words combined that can't make sense!
(MegaDeth 1988)

Re: Computer Weekly survey: Ada does well again

[Philip Anderson]

Marin David Condic wrote:
> 
<snip>
> Its nice to know Ada is doing so well outside of government circles. Maybe
> it is an example of "Military Intelligence"? As the military abandons Ada to
> start trend-following, the private sector starts "discovering" Ada.

No, there are still plenty of Defence projects written in Ada, but the
software is written within the private sector not by Government
employees.

The trend for years has been for the MoD to do less of its own work and
subcontract everything out to Prime Contractors who in turn will
subcontract to other companies including Software Houses - now systems
tend to be PC-based, companies which used to supply their own computers
with a system now just supply software.


-- 
hwyl/cheers,
Philip Anderson
Alenia Marconi Systems
Cwmbr�n, Cymru/Wales