Re: Choose Ada flyer (and future of ADA)

["news.oxy.com" <Vladimir_Olensky@oxy.com>]

Jerry, thanks for your remark.

I think I was not very clear in  what I wanted to deliver.
I know OA IDE and use it from time to time. It is nice and it is very close
to Microsoft Developer Studio.
But to be more specific I did not meant just IDE. I meant RAD (Rapid
Application Development) and then IDE. Those who know Delphi understand
this.

I would like to stress that Borland Delphi is excellent example of the
approach to the needs of the customers.
It is not just IDE. It is form based UI builder that include a lot of high
level OO software components that allow quickly build almost everything
practically in no time and includes almost everything mentioned in the Paul
and Jerry messages. (E.g. one can build a simple database or simple TCP/IP
application less than in hour).
It includes lots of high level OO libraries and software components so you
don need to reinvent the wheel each time.
You have ready to use "building blocks" from which you can quickly build
your "house".
Moreover 3d party software components can be registered for use within
Delphi. You can develop your own software components and register them with
Delphi. After that your they all appear as native Delphi components.
In some sense it is open software architecture (it include sources as well).
The only major drawback is that it is based on Borland Turbo Pascal and not
on ADA95.

Again my opinion is that if any ADA95 company will be able to produce
something close to Delphi it can have great success in WinNT world. Once
more I'd like to mention that CLAW from RR Software is the right step in the
right direction but it needs much more.

I think that a lot of problems stem from the fact that ADA was first aimed
for military area and ADA software companies were targeted to that. But in
military you first have contract and money and then you begin to spend them
on contracted project. You do not need to investigate the market and needs
of the new customers. You need to create application that meets all the
contract requirements (of course it is simplification to certain extent - so
no one should  take it too close to heart ).
 In commercial world you first investigate the market trying to understand
the needs of customers/users and then based on that you develop product
using your own money (or bank credits). If this product is best suited to
the needs of the Customers/Users then it will have success and you have back
more money then you invested in this. If not you will lose your money.

Right now ADA95 technology is mature and several very good compilers are
available but I consider this only as good platform for possible expansion
to the enterprise IS market. We (Customers/Users) need not only compiler
itself but a lot of building blocks to build our applications and RAD system
within which that building blocks can be used.

Imagine you need to build a house (application) and not just a shelter but a
very good house.
You have set of tools (compiler system) - hammer, knives, shovel, axe,
nails, glue e.t.c. whatever is needed for building house.
But if there is no industry that produces building blocks and materials then
each person who wants to build house have first to manufacture them himself.
I hope that this is clear to everyone how long will it take to build a house
and what it will look like.

Time for industry that produces ADA95 building blocks and RADs that uses
that blocks has come.
Those Companies who will be the first can have a lot of success.

It would be very interesting to hear comments from the ACT, Averstar, Aonix,
RR Software and other Companies regarding this issue. Their attitude to this
issue will significantly affect future of ADA95 at the enterprise IS market
and industry that produces applications for this market.

To me ADA95 is DoD child (well brought up) that has now grown up and should
go out to the open world and live alone without help of the parents.

Regards to all,

Vladimir Olensky ( Vladimir_Olensky@oxy.com )
Telecommunication Specialist,
Occidental C.I.S. Services, Inc. ( www.oxy.com )
Moscow,
Russia.




Jerry van Dijk wrote in message ...
>news.oxy.com (Vladimir_Olensky@oxy.com) wrote:
>
>: One of the factors that is preventing ADA from expanding in non military
>: areas is the lack of RAD IDEs  like Borland Delphi and other tools
mentioned
>: in Paul message (especially for Windows NT) .
>
>Just nailing it down to the IDE is not really sufficient, OA - for example-
>has quite a nice IDE and Win32 integration.
>
>For Ada to make inroads into the IS departments for NT based systems, a lot
>more is needed, among which:
>
>a) a reliable, simple to use, database system;
>b) alternatively, easy interfacing to available data sources
>c) a good IS centered (Martin) design tool integrating with Ada
>d) an easy to use, form based, UI generator
>e) lots of low cost supporting libraries
>d) DCOM, CORBA, ODBC, etc, automation
>
>and for us lower level types:
>
>a) a freely available POSIX standard for using OS features like file and
>   record locking in a OS independant manner;
>b) Said POSIX libary standard with all relevant Ada compilers on all
>   relevant platforms.
>
>Anyone offering such a contact ? :-)
>
>--
>-- Jerry van Dijk | Leiden, Holland
>-- Team Ada       | jdijk@acm.org
>-- see http://stad.dsl.nl/~jvandyk