Re: Thus spake the DoD...

[jans@mako.UUCP (Jan Steinman)]

In article <473@ssc-vax.UUCP> tjj@ssc-vax.UUCP (T J Jardine) writes, quotes:
>> Mr. Shebs asks for one thing that Pascal or Ada do better...  (Elegance
>> isn't everything.  Profitability counts too.)
>>                        -- David Schachter
>>
> But seriously, folks, I have yet to see a profitable Ada program, and so has
> the DoD...
>
I really wish people wouldn't do this!  All right, TJ, do you work on DOD
projects?  Do you use Ada?  Do you have much (any) exposure to those who do?
There is so much emotional outpouring when it comes to pet languages, so much
of this empty "talking through one's hat".

FACT: A company in Rockwood, MD (Intellimac) delivered one of the earliest
Ada applications in late 1982.  I don't recall the particulars (and I really
hate to waste my employer's time looking up facts for people who are to lazy
to keep up with the news) but I believe it was nigh 100,000 lines of code.
This early, if not first, application (which was widely discussed in the
trade rags) was not for rockets, bombs, or submarines.  This Ada program runs
CAM, accounting, personnel, virtually everything for a German bus
manufacturer's automated factory in North Carolina!  It performs many tasks
normally asked of Lisp and COBOL.

SECOND FACT: The DOD does not see any *profitable* programs, including those
written in Lisp.  They are a profit *sink*, not *source*.  As to whether they
find Ada a useful means to their various ends, years of defense industry work
prior to coming to Tek qualifies me to say "Yes".  Most of Ada's DOD use is
classified and doesn't show up in the National Enquirer, although it's
presence is well documented in the major DOD trade rags.

> Sorry for the length, but I got stuck on my soap box again!
>
Before you get up on your soapbox and do some more uninformed spouting off,
call Ralph Crafts (VP Marketing, Intellimac) 301/984-8000.

I don't have anything in general against Lisp, Pascal, or any other language.
I do take dim view of those who have a chip on their shoulder over make up
fairy tales to support their stand!
-- 
:::::: Jan Steinman		Box 1000, MS 61-161	(w)503/685-2843 ::::::
:::::: tektronix!tekecs!jans	Wilsonville, OR 97070	(h)503/657-7703 ::::::