Re: The Red Language

[wheeler@ida.org (David Wheeler)]

Richard Kenner (kenner@lab.ultra.nyu.edu) wrote:
: In article <dewar.873678467@merv> dewar@merv.cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar) writes:
: ><<Hey, how does Ada95 do against Steelman?  It
: >might be interesting to hear in what major ways Ada95 violates
: >the old requirements.)>>
: >
: >One obvious violation is the presence of pointers to procedures, which
: >were specifically ruled out (for good reason) by Steelman! There are
: >undoubtedly others, but this comes immediately to mind :-)

: There was an article "rating" Ada95, C, C++, and Java against Steelman
: in the latest Ada Letters (XII.4).

This paper is also available on-line.
It's called "Ada, C, C++, and Java vs. The Steelman" and it's at:

  http://www.adahome.com/History/Steelman/steeltab.htm

This paper gives the exact Steelman text and how well each of these
languages supports the Steelman requirement (with additional commentary).

I would not use the term "rating"; the paper is simply a comparison.
Here's the abstract of the paper:
"This paper compares four computer programming languages (Ada95, C, C++,
 and Java) with the requirements of "Steelman", the original 1978
 requirements document for the Ada computer programming language. This
 paper provides a view of the capabilities of each of these languages,
 and should help those trying to understand their technical
 similarities, differences, and capabilities."

And note the concluding paragraph:
"Again, users of this paper should apply caution; differing percentages
 of "yes" values and capabilities do not necessarily imply that a
 particular language is more suitable than another for a given specific
 task. Readers should examine each answer and determine which "yes" and
 "no" values are of importance to them. This information is intended to
 help readers gain additional understanding of each of these different
 languages."

Also - an electronic version of Steelman is available at:
  http://www.adahome.com/History/Steelman/intro.htm


--- David A. Wheeler
    dwheeler@ida.org