Re: Language support for flexible handling of system-detected errors.

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

Adam Tissa wrote:

> Actually, many of these systems now use C or C++ because of:
> 
> 1. Management reluctance to approve the use of a dying language.
> ( Heck, how many new projects are done in COBOL ? )
> 2. Difficulty finding and hiring Ada programmers.


Actually, management usually has no knowledge of Ada whatsoever.
They choose C or C++ because they have always used C or C++.

There seems to have been no difficulty for management to choose
Java, even when it was a new and unproven technology. At that time
they had difficulty finding and hiring knowledgeable Java
programmers, but that was not an issue.

IMHO the issue is not the difficulty of hiring talent. Good
programmers can be retrained to any language. The issue is
technology fads. When you consider dying languages you should
add C to that list. Clearly its usage as a percent of all new
development has dropped dramatically over the past 10 years.
It is not being taught in universities any more. In fact, C++
is seldom taught in universities any more. Both languages
must be dying, just like Ada.

Just ask the acknowledged software leaders such as Microsoft.
They will tell you that only C# and the .NET technologies have
any future. This is clearly a marketing position, yet many
managers will accept it as fact because they do not know
or care to know, the truth.

Jim Rogers