Re: Endian and Ada

[Joseph Wisniewski <wisniew@primenet.com>]

Just an FYI. I'll check this in my stack of magazines, but I think I 
remember an article in Embedded Systems Programming about 2 years ago,
that had _an_ example of how to rep-spec for "endian-independence".

Joe

Mike Young <mikey@mcs.com> wrote:
: Michael Anthony Porcelli wrote:
: > 
: > I'm taking a computer architecture class and my eyes have been opened to the
: > incredible lack of progress that computer science has made in the area of
: > architecture-independant programming.  One of the main problems that my
: > professor likes to point out the endian problem and the fact that so much
: > software is *not* endian-independant (due mainly to the widespread use of C
: > and C++).  However, he is not familiar enough with Ada (nor am I) to know if
: > Ada is endian-independant.  I'm almost positive that it's *possible* to make
: > endian-dependant code using unchecked programming (necessary for systems
: > writing).  I was wondering, however, if the day-to-day Ada software out
: > there is written endian-independant (i.e. the language facilities used in
: > most day-to-day programming don't depend on whether your architecture is
: > "big" endian or "little" endian.)
: > 
: > Thanks,
: > 
: > -Mike

: ===========
: Byte ordering becomes an issue when communicating across different 
: architectures, but is not normally a concern otherwise. I can think of 
: few languages, with assembler being a *possible* exception, where this 
: is an issue worthy of conscious thought. The question you might now ask 
: yourself (or your professor) is why byte-ordering should be a concern 
: for programmers not involved in cross-platform programming issues, 
: regardless of programming language.

: Mike.

--
Joe Wisniewski	
  Commercial Software Solutions, Ltd. -- Embedded/RT SW Consulting
  Co-Author: Program Smarter, Not Harder - Get Mission Critical Projects
	Right the First Time ISBN 0-07-021232-5

  wisniew@primenet.com   --- The "Baltimore Browns"?     Pazhaloosta!
  Ada95 --> She'll take you to places you never thought possible!