Re: Ada -- a popular language?

[mfeldman@seas.gwu.edu (Michael Feldman)]

In article <dewar.861369698@merv>, Robert Dewar <dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu> wrote:

>I have seen the Walnut Creek Ada CD ROM in a retail store, I can't remember
>the price, but it was much less than that, and that CD ROM includes many
>versions of GNAT, including the nicely packaged one from Mike Feldman
>that runs on DOS with a beginners type interface.

The 2-disk CD ROM set from Walnut Creek retails for $39.95. I have
also seen it in computer stores here in the DC area. I'm pretty sure
Computer Literacy Bookshop sells it; you can also order it direct from
Walnut Creek, info@cdrom.com or http://www.cdrom.com. A new edition
just came out in March.

The "nicely packaged one" [GNAT] for DOS is also available by ftp
ftp://ftp.seas.gwu.edu/pub/ada/ez2load, as well as from PAL, NYU,
and all the various mirror sites. As an indication of its accessibility
and (I guess) popularity, our ftp server statistics at GW show 50-100
copies of ez2load being transferred per week or so.

This same "package" is on the CD; indeed, we really created the package
for the CD. 

I don't think anyone can claim anymore that price is an entry barrier
to using Ada; as has been pointed out ad nauseam, GNAT is in wide use
for both exploratory and "serious" use on nearly every platform.

Mike Feldman
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