* Modernising Ada
@ 1989-10-16 12:51 Judy.Bamberger
1989-10-18 18:04 ` William Thomas Wolfe, 2847
0 siblings, 1 reply; 4+ messages in thread
From: Judy.Bamberger @ 1989-10-16 12:51 UTC (permalink / raw)
(Finally - a post that actually *IS* from me!)
From the self-same article extolled by one of the other
post-ers on this bboard, "Ada: Past, Present, Future"
from CACM, October 1984, an interview with Jean Ichbiah:
"I see the global architecture of Ada as a cathedral,
with all the architectural lines interwoven in a
harmonious manner. I would not do it differently if
I had to do it over again."
Also from the same article, in response to the question:
"Would you expect that to be a relatively minor revision?",
Ichbiah responds,
"It is probably too early to say, but I tend to think
it would be a very minor revision."
And, just as a reminder, Jean Ichbiah is one of the Ada 9X
Distinguished Reviewers.
One should always know one's history and the key players
before making assertions about what could/should/might
get accomplished ...
Judy Bamberger
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Re: Modernising Ada
1989-10-16 12:51 Modernising Ada Judy.Bamberger
@ 1989-10-18 18:04 ` William Thomas Wolfe, 2847
0 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: William Thomas Wolfe, 2847 @ 1989-10-18 18:04 UTC (permalink / raw)
From Judy.Bamberger@SEI.CMU.EDU:
> From the self-same article extolled by one of the other
> post-ers on this bboard, "Ada: Past, Present, Future"
> from CACM, October 1984, an interview with Jean Ichbiah:
>
> "I see the global architecture of Ada as a cathedral,
> with all the architectural lines interwoven in a
> harmonious manner. I would not do it differently if
> I had to do it over again."
Of course not, since this interview was taken in 1984.
At that time, the ISO standard was only around one year
old, and few if any validated compilers existed. Hence,
there had not yet been an opportunity to put Ada through
its paces and find out where the problems were. Nor had
there been the benefit of the tremendous amount of research
that has been done on object-oriented concepts since that time.
What this quote tells us is that he was (quite justifiably)
pleased with what he had done, in view of the information
which was available at the time.
Considerably more information is available today.
> Also from the same article, in response to the question:
> "Would you expect that to be a relatively minor revision?",
> Ichbiah responds,
>
> "It is probably too early to say, but I tend to think
> it would be a very minor revision."
Yes, it was indeed too early to say.
> And, just as a reminder, Jean Ichbiah is one of the Ada 9X
> Distinguished Reviewers.
>
> One should always know one's history and the key players
> before making assertions about what could/should/might
> get accomplished ...
This sounds like some sort of implication that Ichbiah has not
changed his position in the least during the five years in which
Ada has been given a much more comprehensive review, despite articles
such as "Programming Atomic Actions in Ada" (Burns & Wellings, Ada
Letters, Sep/Oct '89); this article in particular demonstrates that
recoverable atomic actions cannot be performed in Ada due to the lack
of an asynchronous exception facility. A number of other major
shortfalls in the tasking area are also rather well-documented.
I don't think that Jean Ichbiah would be very favorably impressed
by any sort of implication that he is somehow incapable of learning
from the results of his Ada 83 experience.
Bill Wolfe, wtwolfe@hubcap.clemson.edu
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Modernising Ada
@ 1989-10-16 12:51 Judy.Bamberger
0 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Judy.Bamberger @ 1989-10-16 12:51 UTC (permalink / raw)
(Finally - a post that actually *IS* from me!)
From the self-same article extolled by one of the other
post-ers on this bboard, "Ada: Past, Present, Future"
from CACM, October 1984, an interview with Jean Ichbiah:
"I see the global architecture of Ada as a cathedral,
with all the architectural lines interwoven in a
harmonious manner. I would not do it differently if
I had to do it over again."
Also from the same article, in response to the question:
"Would you expect that to be e relatively minor revision?",
Ichbiah responds,
"It is probably too early to sa}, but I tend to think
it would be a very minor revision."
And, just as a reminder, Jean Ichbiah is one of the Ada 9X
Distinguished Reviewers.
One should always know one's history and the key players
before making assertions about what could/should/might
get accomplished ...
Judy Bamberger
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
* Modernising Ada
@ 1989-10-16 12:44 Judy.Bamberger
0 siblings, 0 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: Judy.Bamberger @ 1989-10-16 12:44 UTC (permalink / raw)
Continuing the debate, I am asked to repost this (but I was warned to
proof read it first, this time!).
----------
>> As per Richard Fairley (Software Engineering Concepts, 1985, Ch. 7,
>> Page 229), Ada is part of "the technology of software engineering".
^^^^
correct, ada is only an instantiation of a particular and very miniscule
facet of s/w engineering (the programming part).
>> . . . The question is whether Ada is
>> to become an *obsolescent* software engineering technology, just
>> as COBOL did before it.
it already has. it is 60's and 70's technology. don't look now but
the '90 are just around the corner.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 4+ messages in thread
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