Re: 7E7 Flight Controls Electronics

["Vernon Brown" <vernonrbrown@inficad.com>]

"Rod Chapman" <rod.chapman@praxis-cs.co.uk> wrote in message
news:cf2c6063.0405300234.1663792@posting.google.com...
> Jeffrey Carter <spam@spam.com> wrote in message
news:<90Stc.15309$be.3117@newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net>...
> > Honeywell is advertising for a software engineer for 7E7 flight controls
> > electronics. The requirements are "Demonstrated experience using C/C++".
> > No mention of Ada.
>

I work for Honeywell ATS, but these comments are my own.
I don't think I'm letting out any secrets here...
  Some content for 7E7 will be done in C++, just
because it's too hard to attract a large number (100s) of engineers who
know Ada, or are willing to learn Ada and want to live in Phoenix (it's 86
degrees
right now at midnite!)

However, a majority of the code will be written/converted to Ada95, just
because we
have so much Ada83 code to leverage from.
I'm guessing the reason for only mentioning C/C++ in the ad is to get
sufficient response
so that prospective employee's can be interviewed and asked if they
would mind learning Ada instead of using C++.  In reality, flight control
software is very likely to all be Ada95.
Currently I don't believe C++ is being proposed for use in any DO178B Level
A
(safety critical) systems.


> I don't think we should read too much into this.  Two possibly useful
> pieces of information:
>
> 1) The Flight Control Electronics (FCE) is not the same thing as the
> "Core System" which was recently won by Smiths/Windriver/Ada Core.
>
The toolset supplied by Smiths contains no support for C++.  Honeywell
is on its own to add compatible C++ tools.

> 2) To the best of my knowledge, the contract for 7E7 FCE has not yet
> been awarded.  Anyone seen a press release?
>
Correct.

> I'm sure the development approach, languages and all that stuff will
> become far clearer once we know who's actually won the work!

Here's hoping it's Honeywell, 'cause then I'll get to teach a bunch more
engineers Ada!

Vernon