Re: poerMac version of Ada where

[mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)]

In article <D070yo.9C2@serval.net.wsu.edu>,
Yan Li <yanli@syn262.chem.wsu.edu> wrote:
>
>Few days ago, I saw a message from this group that there will
>be a PowerMac native mode Ada availible soon. Is this still true?
>Where can I get it?
>
I think what you saw was a message from me indicating that we are
nearly ready to release a re-compiled version of GW-Ada/Ed-Mac that 
will run in native mode on a PowerMac. The code it generates is still
the same hypothetical code, which is executed by a simulator.

Both compilation and execution are quite a bit faster; even the
680x0 code is speeded up by a factor of 4-5. But the speedup is
really the only change worth mentioning. No change in functionality.

I think our release is about a week away. Expect to see 4 versions:

- "fat" binary containing PowerMac and 680x0 (x >= 2) code;

- separate binaries for PowerMac, 68000, and 680x0 (we are producing
  these to fit each of the archives on a single diskette for use as
  conference souvenirs, easy student distribution, etc.)

The 68000 version is very slow; it was built because there were some
requests for it from Mac SE owners who understand that it won't perform
very well. A lot of students still own old machines!

To come back to your query:

Alas - there is no Ada compiler that generates PowerMac native 
code, and, as far as I know, no commercial effort to produce one. 
Of course, there may be stuff going on in the vendors' "skunk works" 
that I don't know about. :-)

Mike Feldman
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michael B. Feldman -  chair, SIGAda Education Working Group
Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
The George Washington University -  Washington, DC 20052 USA
202-994-5919 (voice) - 202-994-0227 (fax) - mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Internet)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
         Ada on the World-Wide Web: http://lglwww.epfl.ch/Ada/
------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Illegitimi non carborundum." (Don't let the bastards grind you down.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------