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=-0.8 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_DATE autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,baa7d08a8fadc6ea X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1994-11-21 11:59:23 PST Path: nntp.gmd.de!xlink.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!swrinde!sgiblab!sgigate.sgi.com!fido.asd.sgi.com!lovelace!quiggle From: quiggle@lovelace.wpd.sgi.com (Tom Quiggle) Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Delphi and SGI's GNAT Ada access of C++ class libraries Date: 21 Nov 1994 19:24:50 GMT Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc. Mountain View, CA Message-ID: <3aqs62$730@fido.asd.sgi.com> References: <199411200820.IAA02428@stout.entertain.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: lovelace.wpd.sgi.com Date: 1994-11-21T19:24:50+00:00 List-Id: In article <199411200820.IAA02428@stout.entertain.com>, Colin James III writes: > Regarding SGI using GNAT to access SGI's C++ class libraries, so what. > Eiffel has *always* been able to access C libraries directly; and Eiffel > 3 (with concurrent processes matching Ada-83 tasks) has absolutely all > the functionality (and more) than Ada-9x. What SGI is claiming is in > fact no big deal; it's been done before. I should know better than to respond to such obvious flame-bait, but what the heck, I have nothing better to do... :-) :-) :-) Interfacing to C is not the issue. Virtually every language ever ported to to a Unix platform has this capability. Interfacing to C was trivial in Ada83. Of interest is the ability to MEANINGFULLY interface to a C++ class library -- complete with class extension and specialization. I was previously unaware of any Eiffel implementation capable of deriving off of C++ classes, extending such classes, overriding virtual functions in Eiffel, etc. If such an implementation exists, I congratulate its author for providing this useful capability, and would be very interested in how one goes about using a 200+ class C++ library in Eiffel (I would hate to reinvent the wheel). I am well aware of what C programmers and Ada83 programmers have to go through to use existing C++ class libraries, and I pitty the poor programmer who has to write such code. If Ada9X is the second language to provide a truely interoperable solution to interfacing to C++, so be it. Ada9x will also be the second standardized OO language (behind Object Cobol) as well. Maybe we need a new catch phrase for Ada9x ... "Ada9x, the first language to do it right for the second time" > Also Eiffel is infinitely more > portable because there are more ANSI C/C++ compilers than hardware > platforms supported by Ada-83/9x. I find this assertion VERY hard to accept. There are Ada 83 compilers available for virtually every software development platform; including PC's, all popular workstations, IBM mainframes, Cray supercomputers, etc. GNAT is available (or can easily be made available) for any platform that currently supports GCC. There are Ada cross compilers for 16-bit micros, the full line of Motorola and Intel 32-bit processors, DSPs, and most popular RISC chips. I just don't see anywhere near the same level of support for Eiffel. I'm not trying to blast Eiffel. The last time I looked at the language (admitedly several years ago) I felt it was probably the best OO language available at the time. > [deletia] > cjames@cec-services.com > cjames@entertain.com > cjames@nyx.cs.du.edu ------ Tom Quiggle quiggle@sgi.com Silicon Graphics (415) 390 - 2884