Re: Why so hard to come up with a simple embedded Ada system?

[jonathan <johnscpg@googlemail.com>]

On Jul 14, 5:55 am, use...@scriptoriumdesigns.com wrote:
> I'll just come out and say it - for a language that was designed for
> as much for embedded applications as for anything, it seems to be
> maddeningly difficult to actually get Ada on a modest embedded
> platform.  By modest I mean low-end 32 bits, no MMU.  ARM7 or Cortex
> Mx would be my first choice.  I can be up and running on such a
> platform with C and a tasking library in a day (Rowley Crossworks,
> nice package).  Why can't I do the same with Ada?  Or rather, to avoid
> making this about me, why can't an embedded programmer - student,
> hobbyist or professional - who's heard about Ada and wants to give it
> a spin, including hard-realtime concurrency, just do it?
>
> If Ada fans (I include myself) want to see Ada get more exposure, this
> seems like not only a desirable step but a necessary one.  I can run C
> on a thousand such boards, and I can't (AFAIK) run Ada on one.
>
> Maybe this is all available, and I just haven't found out where.  Then
> that's a problem too, but I'll be happy to hear about it.
>
> All comments welcome.

Agree completely.  But if commercially supported software is too
expensive for the

> embedded programmer - student,
> hobbyist or professional - who's heard about Ada and wants to give it
> a spin, including hard-realtime concurrency

(and I'ld be suprised if it were not) then x86 looks promising (intel
atom, amd geode ...).  I just web searched amd geode and found the
wikipedia article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geode_(processor)

Worth thinking about .. the wikipedia article has a link to an
article on how to put Linux on a Geode board.  Makes sense ...
along with say, I don't know, Marte-OS.

And for more inspiration,

http://www.circuitcellar.com/archives/viewable/212-Ramirez/index.html

J.