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=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f891f,9d9325e2ee8461aa X-Google-Attributes: gidf891f,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,53ac8da1f34d53c4 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 10204d,960b26935b9a4a0c X-Google-Attributes: gid10204d,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1995-01-24 21:35:14 PST Path: pad-thai.cam.ov.com!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!gatech!swrinde!news.uh.edu!uuneo.neosoft.com!Starbase.NeoSoft.COM!not-for-mail From: smize@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM (Samuel Mize) Newsgroups: comp.lang.misc,comp.software.international,comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Gurus - which lang. for this task? Date: 24 Jan 1995 23:14:45 -0600 Organization: NeoSoft Internet Services +1 713 684 5969 Message-ID: <3g4mo5$qga@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> References: <1995Jan12.143131.2083@midway.uchicago.edu> <3fh4l1$mpm@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> <3fuskb$hae@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> <3g0rc9$o4j@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM> NNTP-Posting-Host: starbase.neosoft.com Xref: pad-thai.cam.ov.com comp.lang.misc:6943 comp.software.international:1389 comp.lang.ada:14645 Date: 1995-01-24T23:14:45-06:00 List-Id: In article <3g0rc9$o4j@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>, Cameron Laird wrote: >... except for its suitability for prototyping. Ada >has had a bad reputation in that regard. Does it >still suffer from multi-day link operations? Under- >stand, please, that I'm a "friendly", looking for >reasons to learn more about Ada. 1) Modern compilers work pretty fast. If you're working on a slow platform, they will still take a while; so, if you expect to do code development on an 8086-based platform, one could use a near-assembler-language like C, then blame Ada for compiling slower. 2) FOR THIS ANSWER I'll define "prototyping" as rapidly building something, as a proof of concept or design sketch. I've found, once one knows Ada, that it works extremely well for this. You get the same trade-offs in building prototypes as you do building anything: it takes more time to write the code initially, it takes more compile time, you get more compile-time checks and spend less time debugging. The trick is to set up a code skeleton first, and compile it. Add a little functionality, compile it. Use a fast code/compile/test cycle. If you use enumeration types carefully, you can use 'image, 'value, and the text_io packages to crank out a quick-n-dirty command-line interface that will adapt itself as you add to the types. This can become an engine that is driven by a GUI in your second-generation prototype (UI + functionality). If you want to rapidly hack something that kind-of works, to show a UI or a general idea, you might do better in a non-Ada language. In this case I would recommend a UI builder of some sort, and whatever language it hooks to. Once Ada93 is well in place, that language may well be Ada. Samuel Mize - smize@starbase.neosoft.com