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=-0.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00, REPLYTO_WITHOUT_TO_CC autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,a1ce307c10055549 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-12-12 21:58:20 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!canoe.uoregon.edu!arclight.uoregon.edu!wn14feed!worldnet.att.net!207.217.77.102!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!harp.news.atl.earthlink.net!not-for-mail From: Richard Riehle Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: IBM Acquires Rational Ada Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2002 22:06:22 -0800 Organization: AdaWorks Software Engineering Message-ID: <3DF978DE.B4C2A2C1@adaworks.com> References: <3DF1615C.7AAAC86E@adaworks.com> <3DF1B042.6603DDDE@easystreet.com> <3DF2A483.EC512CDF@adaworks.com> <8db3d6c8.0212091445.12594821@posting.google.com> <3DF628C4.7090607@cogeco.ca> <3DF8D8BF.9020606@cogeco.ca> Reply-To: richard@adaworks.com NNTP-Posting-Host: 41.b2.41.d2 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Server-Date: 13 Dec 2002 05:58:19 GMT X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) X-Accept-Language: en Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:31771 Date: 2002-12-13T05:58:19+00:00 List-Id: "Warren W. Gay VE3WWG" wrote: > But consider the challenges of a Windows programmer that wants to write his > application in Ada: > > - A user interface beyond tty (console) mode is required (text or GUI) > - Database access is required (very few serious applications can do > without this). > - O/S interfaces (e.g. printing and registry) > - Network APIs Some of this list is easily dealt with. I believe a serious Windows developer would use CLAW for the GUI. However, the database issue is more serious. We once had AdaSage for good database support, but that has vanished from the landscape. There was a company in Santa Clara, CA that once developed a full relational database in Ada for Ada, but that has also vanished. Oracle seems to have de-escalated support for Ada, and I'm not sure of the status of other database bindings that once existed. So, if someone were to create a database product in Ada for Ada, would there be a market for it? Oh, I see. We distribute it via the FSF under the GPL. Who can afford the time to do that. Most Ada programmers I know are working full-time jobs and don't have the luxury of creating free software. OK. Will someone fund such development? Well, there's no one left in the Ada industry with enough money to do this kind of thing. Randy and Tom are struggling to keep CLAW going as a viable commercial venture. Compiler publishers are stuggling to keep the cash flow flowing. There is no one in the DoD willing to break free money for anything related to Ada these days. We lost the opportunity when we had it. So much focus on embedded systems and little on database systems. Well, the compiler companies had no interest in commercial sales of Ada (or the compilers would have been priced more reasonably). As long as the DoD was a captive customer, there was no incentive for competitive product pricing. ACT has done great things for democratizing Ada. We can hope it is not too late. Just today, one of my international students delivered a presentation for his final project in my software risk management class comparing the risks of Ada to the risks of C++. As a language, absent all other issues, Ada still wins over C++. When one considers the above list given by Mr. Gay, the situation is much gloomier. What can we do to fix this? How can we take a superior language technology, one for which compilers are now in the affordable range, and make available the necessary tools, at reasonable prices, to make it a more attractive alternative? Richard Riehle