Ada News Brief - 96-06-14.txt [1/1]

Ada News Brief - 96-06-14.txt [1/1]

[AdaIC]

Ada News Brief
Week Ending: June 14, 1996

****************
MUST READING!
***************
In addition to the two feature articles on Ada (briefed 
below), Ada received positive references throughout the June 
issue of Object Magazine:

Page 25 -  Marie Lenzi, the Editor, says,
  
"Eiffel, our pure entry, is a beautiful, smart, elegant 
language and Ada, over the last couple of years, has 
been pumping serious object iron. This is the language 
[she means Ada] closest of all the hybrids to an object 
orientation. Now with it's complete set of object 
qualification, it hopes to win market segments other 
than the requisite U.S. government. More to come."

Page 27 - A Comparison of Object-Oriented Languages by Jean 
Pierre LeJacq

Ada is given a fair hearing in this short overview of 
OOP languages. It is worth reading.

Page 59 - Java As Application Development Language by Jay 
Johnson

"... C is the operating systems language, Forth is 
great for device drivers, C++ fits in where a low-level 
procedural approach and a higher-level semi-object-
oriented approach are needed on the same project, 
Smalltalk fits in where a pure object-oriented approach 
is appropriate, and Ada is the best language for huge 
embedded systems."

SOURCE:
Object Magazine, June 1996 and Richard Riehle, Ada Works via 
comp.lang.ada

*************************************************
Ada 95: THE LANGUAGE FOR THE 90'S AND BEYOND
*************************************************
An article by Joyce L. Tokar, Ph.D., Principle Scientist 
with Tartan Inc., titled, "Ada 95: The Language for the 90's 
and Beyond," was recently published in Object Magazine. The 
article uses Ada 95 in presenting the requirements that must 
be satisfied by a programming language to support the 
successful development of complex software systems. The 
specific Ada 95 solutions are compared to those of C++, 
which also satisfy many of the requirements.

Tokar discusses and compares the various features of the 
languages, such as modularity, reusability and portability, 
reliability, and object-oriented programming. She concludes 
that Ada 95 and C++ address most of the requirements of 
complex software systems in different ways. "Ada 95 focuses 
on a top-down approach to software development with an 
emphasis on design and architectural issues. C++ has more 
emphasis on programming features that support a bottom-up 
development paradigm," Tokar states. 

Tokar suggests that Ada is a valuable language in reducing 
costs by detecting error early in the development cycle. 
Tokar states, "Ada's compile-time checking of types, 
interfaces, etc, and runtime checking of ranges, etc, help 
keep the cost of errors low, because fewer errors make it 
into the integration and test stage of development - fewer 
still make it into the fielded systems."

Tokar concludes with the following:
"Ada 95 is a reliable, standardized language well 
suited for developing large, complex systems that must 
work. It supports the principles and methodologies of 
software engineering including reliability, quality, 
and productivity. It also supports advancements in 
software engineering, including object-oriented 
programming and concurrency."

SOURCE:
Tokar, Joyce L., Ph.D. "Ada 95: The Language for the 90's 
	and Beyond," Object Magazine. June 1996: 53-56.

**************************************
AN Ada UPDATE FROM RICHARD RIEHLE
**************************************
Richard Riehle offers positive support for Ada 95 in his Ada 
update article featured in June's Object Magazine. Riehle 
notes that since his article introducing the new Ada 95 
standard (also featured in Object Magazine) a year ago, 
there has been growing acceptance of Ada in both military 
and commercial applications. "Ada has been used for the 
construction of nearly every kind of software application 
anyone could identify," Riehle states. 

In addition to discussing Ada 95's improved capabilities, 
Riehle offers a new idea: that one of the most important 
benefits of the widespread use of C++ will be a greater 
acceptance of Ada. "We find that expert C++ programmers are 
developing the software maturity required to understand the 
real benefits of Ada. This is because correct design in any 
object-oriented language requires the same skills and 
attitudes that have always been required of proper design in 
Ada," Riehle states.

SOURCE:
Riehle, Richard. "Ada: An Update," Object Magazine. June 
	1996: 50-52.

*****************************************
THOMSON SOFTWARE TO MERGE WITH IDE
*****************************************
Thomson Software Products of San Diego and Interactive 
Development Environments Inc. (IDE) of San Francisco, two 
companies with expertise in Ada development tools and 
computer-aided software engineering, are merging, according 
to Ben Goodwin, president and CEO of Thomson Software. The 
combined company will have a new name which has not yet been 
chosen. 

Familiar product names, such as IDE's Software Through 
Pictures engineering environment and Thomson's Object Ada 
software tools, will remain intact, Goodwin says.

SOURCE:
"Thomson Software to merge with IDE," Military and Aerospace 
	Electronics. June 1996: 29.

***********************************************************
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:  

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