Re: ada vs. cpp

[James Rogers <jimmaureenrogers@worldnet.att.net>]

"MM@MM" wrote:
> 
> Ada is good at the nity gritty stuff. The above shows the value of attributes
> that comes with the language, and being able to use subranges. Neither
> of which is part of c/c++ nor java. But all these languages are much more
> popular than Ada. go figure.

You express a common assumption in your paragraph above. That assumption
is that most programmers have knowledge of Ada. 

My experience is quite the opposite of this assumption. I spend my days
teaching new skills to software professionals. Most of my students want
to learn Java for a number of reasons. Most frequently the reason is
that their jobs will require them to use Java in the near future, or
they need to know it NOW.

When I casually mention work I have done in Ada, the overwhelming
response is "I have never heard of that language."

My conclusion is that Ada is a stealth language. It is one of the
major languages in terms of usage, but the majority of software
developers have never even heard of it.

Nobody is going to choose a language they have never heard of.
At a minimum they must encounter some reference to it first.

The developments in recent years which have made Ada one of the
languages included in some Linux distributions is very good for
overall exposure to Ada.

I am also hopeful that Western countries will develop a stronger
cultural awareness to the possibilities of cyber terrorism.
Such an awareness is needed to protect all forms of government
and financial systems. When security becomes a primary concern
Ada will become a welcome tool to achieve more secure results.

Jim Rogers
Colorado Springs, Colorado USA