From: Richard D Riehle <laoXhai@ix.netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Ada 83 - Sometimes still chosen
Date: 1999/03/24
Date: 1999-03-24T12:57:39-06:00 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <7dbcj3$e0l@dfw-ixnews7.ix.netcom.com> (raw)
In-Reply-To: 36F913E0.75F51763@lmco.com
In article <36F913E0.75F51763@lmco.com>,
"Howard W. LUDWIG" <howard.w.ludwig@lmco.com> wrote:
>We need to be a little more careful in addressing questions of new people.
>The answer Chris gave _assumes_ Ada 95. Many people, for whatever reason,
>still use Ada 83.
Howard's point needs to be emphasized. We still get inquiries for
Ada 83 training. Not everyone is making a transition to Ada 95. A
few compiler publishers are still selling a remarkable number of
licenses for Ada 83 compilers. Why is this?
One reason is that Ada 95 is not ported to all the environments used
in real applications. One platform that comes to mind is the HP
real time computer for which only an Alsys Ada 83 compiler is available.
Another is the MIL-STD 1750A, still widely used in space applications
and military aircraft. There are, of course, many others. For example,
though it may be difficult to believe, there are still designers who
specify "older" 8086 and 80286 processors for certain applications.
In a few situations, it is a matter of "authorization" to use the new
Ada standard. This is a reflection of the wonderful world of bureaucracy
where a contract specifies MIL-STD 1815A and the program manager refuses
to allow any deviation from the contract.
There are some sensible reasons for sticking to Ada 83. Here in Palo
Alto there is a company developing long-lived space applications. Ada
83 has been used for satellites that will survive through the first
quarter of the next century. The code has been written in Ada 83 and
Ada 83 will continue to be used for maintaining that code for the life
span of the satellite. Long-lived software is one of Ada's reasons for
existence. Robert Dewar often stresses that Ada is intended to me more
readable than writeable. In the year 2030, when some programmer is
trying to code a program for uplink to a satellite to compensate for
a component destroyed by electrostatic discharge, that programmer will
need to be able to read the code written in 1997 by some other programmer
who is either dead or retired. It will still be Ada 83 code.
Richard Riehle
richard@adaworks.com
http://www.adaworks.com
next prev parent reply other threads:[~1999-03-24 0:00 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 55+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
1999-03-24 0:00 Calculating SQRT in ADA cmcrae
1999-03-23 0:00 ` Chris Morgan
[not found] ` <36F913E0.75F51763@lmco.com>
1999-03-24 0:00 ` John Herro
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Hans Marqvardsen
[not found] ` <36FAA3DF.42C31CF@lmco.com>
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Tom Moran
1999-03-25 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-25 0:00 ` John Herro
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Hans Marqvardsen
1999-03-25 0:00 ` David C. Hoos, Sr.
1999-03-25 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-25 0:00 ` David C. Hoos, Sr.
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Howard W. LUDWIG
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Ole-Hjalmar Kristensen
1999-03-27 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-29 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1999-03-30 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-04-02 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1999-04-03 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-30 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-04-02 0:00 ` Robert I. Eachus
1999-03-25 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Calculating SQRT in Ada John Herro
1999-03-26 0:00 ` David C. Hoos, Sr.
1999-03-26 0:00 ` John Herro
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Calculating SQRT in ADA robert_dewar
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Richard D Riehle [this message]
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Ada 83 - Sometimes still chosen robert_dewar
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Richard D Riehle
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
1999-03-26 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-25 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Richard D Riehle
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Larry Kilgallen
1999-03-26 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Richard D Riehle
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Tom Moran
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Larry Kilgallen
1999-03-29 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
1999-03-29 0:00 ` Tarjei Tj�stheim Jensen
1999-03-27 0:00 ` Matthew Heaney
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Tom Moran
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Tarjei Tj�stheim Jensen
1999-03-27 0:00 ` robert_dewar
1999-03-27 0:00 ` Tarjei Tj�stheim Jensen
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Calculating SQRT in ADA robert_dewar
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Howard W. LUDWIG
1999-03-25 0:00 ` Larry Kilgallen
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
1999-03-24 0:00 ` bob
1999-03-24 0:00 ` Niklas Holsti
1999-03-26 0:00 ` als0045
1999-03-26 0:00 ` als0045
1999-03-26 0:00 ` bob
1999-03-26 0:00 ` Marin David Condic
1999-03-26 0:00 ` David C. Hoos, Sr.
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