From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: * X-Spam-Status: No, score=1.4 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_50,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,e29c511c2b08561c X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman) Subject: Re: Is the "Ada mandate" being reconsidered? Date: 1996/07/11 Message-ID: <4s38g3$f8n@felix.seas.gwu.edu>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 167820840 references: <9606212019.AA11075@eight-ball> <4rrrvg$j9b@rational.rational.com> organization: George Washington University newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-07-11T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article , David Emery wrote: >And, in my opinion, this insistence on inferior technology does NOT >contribute to my confidence in either the FAA as an acqusition agency or >the forthcoming FAA systems. Anyone who's followed the aftermath of the ValuJet tragedy has got to be raising serious questions about the competence of this agency to do _anything_, especially given its "dual mandate" to both enforce air safety _and_ promote the aviation industry. Decades ago we separated the two roles in the nuclear area, and ought to do so here too. >I'm now working on an ATC system (in Ada, of course), and I can't imagine >someone choosing C or C++ for a system this large that has such a large >safety component. My understanding is that at least those Ada components that were fielded or nearly so, are being retained. >Can I "measure" this? No, as this is the only ATC I've worked on. But I've >seen lots and lots of coding errors that were caught by the compiler in >Ada, that would, AT BEST, be caught during debugging in a C or C++ environment. >This is not to say that Ada produces "safe, correct code". Far from it. >But it sure helps! A couple of years ago, the Thomson/CSF VP for ATC systems wrote that he found it unimaginable for his company or his competitors to _not_ use Ada for ATC. Thomson/CSF was, at that time, cranking out ATC systems for Europe, Asia, and Africa, seemingly like cookies with a cookie cutter. In that same article, published unfortunately in a trade periodical I have not been able to track down, he listed _very high_ reuse rates (> 80%) from one contry's system to the next. >From this article and other sources, I assembled a list of countries whose ATC systems were - at least to a significant degree - in Ada. Australia Belgium Brazil Canada China Czech Republic Denmark Finland France Germany Greece Hong Kong Hungary India Ireland Kenya Netherlands New Zealand Pakistan Scotland Singapore South Africa Spain Sweden United Kingdom United States Vietnam Anyone in Europe have more up to date information? Mike Feldman