Ada News Brief - Week Ending: - 96-02-16.txt [1/1]

Ada News Brief - Week Ending: - 96-02-16.txt [1/1]

[ReuseIC]

Ada News Brief
Week Ending: February 16, 1996


USE OF Ada IN MAJOR AUTOMATED INFORMATION SYSTEM PROGRAMS  
TO BE REPORTED BY PROGRAM MANAGERS

Beginning with the Fiscal Year 1996, Second Quarter, Major 
Automated Information System (MAIS) Status Report, program 
managers will provide information on key program and 
software development measures that support their program 
management process, this according to a memorandum from 
Anthony M. Valletta, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, 
dated January 5, 1996. One of the six measures to be 
addressed is, �Technical Adequacy - regarding software 
reuse, use of Ada for software development, and use of 
approved standard data elements.� Other measures to be 
addressed are Schedule and Progress, Growth and Stability, 
Funding and Personal Resources, Product Quality, and 
Software Development Performance.

SOURCE:
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense Memorandum. 
Anthony M. Valletta, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, 
C3I Acquisition. January 5, 1996


Ada COURSES DEVELOPED UNDER DISA GRANT ARE SUCCESSFUL

An Ada course sequence was offered for the first time at the 
University of Illinois in Chicago and proved successful with 
both students and instructors. The two-semester course 
sequence was sponsored under DISA grant DCA100-94-0006 and 
included �Introduction to Software Engineering� and �Testing 
and Verification of Real-Time Software.� The Department of 
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science reported that 
Ada�s emphasis on reliability is especially well-suited to 
software engineering classes because the goal of these 
classes is to teach methodologies and tools for the 
production of high-quality software.

The Defense Information Systems Agency, Center for 
Information Management(DISA/CIM) and the Defense Automation 
Resources Information Center (DARIC) Educational 
Institutions Partnership Program offer a program intended to 
help United States post-secondary educational institutions 
advance their capability to provide a highly qualified 
software engineering work force into the 21st century. Of 
particular interest is the development of curricula, courses 
and course materials that focus on the effective use of the 
Ada programming language in traditional computer science, 
business, engineering, information management and related 
curricula, or programs that emphasize the use of the 
features of Ada 95 to encourage better software engineering 
and software reuse. For more information on grants offered 
by DISA, contact the AdaIC at 1-800/232-4211 or view 
information from the AdaIC�s WWW site at http://sw-
eng.falls-church.va.us/AdaIC/ed-train/baa-fy95.htm.

SOURCE:
Ugo Buy, Assistant Professor, Electrical Engineering and 
Computer Science, University of Illinois at Chicago, 851 
South Morgan St., Chicago, IL 60607.
and
Ada Information Clearinghouse, Ada Joint Program Office.


Ada FACTORS DISCUSSED IN THE USE OF COTS SOFTWARE

At the Software Productivity Consortium�s third annual 
Executive Round Table, senior executives from the 
Consortium�s membership, including the Honorable Gil F. 
Decker, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, 
Development and Acquisition and Lieutenant General Albert J. 
Edmonds, Director of the Defense Information Systems Agency 
(DISA), discussed their views on the acquisition and use of 
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software. 

Among the critical issues discussed in the use of COTS 
software was the need for government acquisition procedures 
to allow evaluation of the best combination of COTS and Ada 
software in system procurement. Another issue discussed was 
the need to evaluate development costs and maintenance and 
support costs of COTS. Long-term COTS supportability costs 
have yet to be fully analyzed whereas Ada promises a 35% 
reduction in longer-term maintenance costs. 

For a copy of the proceedings of the 3rd Annual Executive 
Round Table, please contact the Consortium Clearinghouse at 
703/742-7211, or send an e-mail to �ask-spc@software.org�.

SOURCE:
�Decker, Edmonds discuss COTS software issues with Executive 
	Round Table participants,� Software Productivity 
	Consortium Quarterly. December 1995: 6-7.


Ada AND REUSE INFORMATION CLEARINGHOUSE WEB PAGES RECEIVE 
�TOP 5% OF THE WEB� AWARD

The Software Engineering WWW site, home page for both the 
Ada and Reuse Information Clearinghouses, has received 
Point�s �Top 5% of the Web� award. Sites are chosen based 
upon their content, presentation, and experience (Is this 
fun? Is it worth the time? Does this site deliver the 
goods?). We are happy to say that the Software Engineering 
site ranked high in all of these categories. Find out for 
yourself ... visit us at http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us!

SOURCE:
Ada Information Clearinghouse

The AdaIC�s �Ada News Brief� is a compilation of summaries from Ada-
related articles in trade magazines, newsletters and press releases. The 
AdaIC welcomes suggestions for and pointers to Ada-related articles.
Contact the AdaIC at:  

Ada Information Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 1866
Falls-Church, VA 22041
1-800/232-4211 or 703/681-2466
adainfo@sw-eng.falls-church.va.us
http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us