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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,TO_NO_BRKTS_FROM_MSSP autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,da46977c58c329df X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-02-04 08:52:40 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!nycmny1-snh1.gtei.net!cambridge1-snf1.gtei.net!news.gtei.net!bos-service1.ext.raytheon.com!dfw-service2.ext.raytheon.com.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3C5EBC07.6A27AE8A@west.raytheon.com> From: Jerry Petrey <"jdpetrey"@west.raytheon.com> X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.76 [en]C-CCK-MCD CSC;Raytheon (WinNT; U) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Ada's Slide To Oblivion ... References: <4519e058.0201310714.650888e1@posting.google.com> <3C598CAA.7040801@home.com> <3C59FDF8.1F1AB5F1@adaworks.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 09:51:19 -0700 NNTP-Posting-Host: 147.24.83.38 X-Complaints-To: news@ext.ray.com X-Trace: dfw-service2.ext.raytheon.com 1012841559 147.24.83.38 (Mon, 04 Feb 2002 10:52:39 CST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2002 10:52:39 CST Organization: Raytheon Company Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:19591 Date: 2002-02-04T09:51:19-07:00 List-Id: Richard Riehle wrote: > > "Christopher A. Bohn" wrote: > > > But the company opted for C++ because there were more C++ programmers than > > Ada programmers in the market, so they'd have a larger pool of talent to > > consider when making hiring decisions. > > This kind of stupidity is all too common among DoD contractors. Usually it > is > made by people who don't understand Ada, or don't understand C++, or both. For > > me, the more I learn about C++, the more horrified I am that anyone would > seriously consider using it for weapon systems software, or any other kind of > software where safety is a factor. Clearly, Jack Gansle understands this > issue > pretty well. For the others, I guess ignorance is bliss. > > Richard Riehle How true Richard. Here at Raytheon Missile Systems, all our new missile software is going to C++. The managers listen to the young engineers who only know or want to work with C++. There are a few older program like the one I'm on that uses Ada (thank goodness). Most of these were started by ex-C programmers and it is amazing how much like C their Ada code is. I keep fighting for more Ada usage but I keep getting those same old arguments - the tools are more expensive, Ada is dead and won't be supported in the future, C++ programmers are easier to get, ... ad nauseam. Yet they keep stressing how important it is that these missiles work right every time - it is a frustrating battle to make them understand. I applaud your efforts at Adaworks in teaching Ada. This is want companies need - some in-depth courses that train software engineers to think in Ada not just translate C code to Ada. I hope it has an impact on Ada's future. Jerry -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Jerry Petrey -- Senior Principal Systems Engineer - Navigation, Guidance, & Control -- Raytheon Missile Systems - Member Team Ada & Team Forth -- NOTE: please remove in email address to reply -----------------------------------------------------------------------------