Ada for Cell Processor?

Ada for Cell Processor?

[ezkcdude]

I've just been reading some of the info on the IBM Cell BE processor,
and it seems like the development of that platform is based primarily
on C/C++ and Fortran. Although I'm only a newbie to Ada, it seems to
me like it would fit nicely here, so I am just curious whether it is
already in the works. And if not, why not?

Re: Ada for Cell Processor?

[Ludovic Brenta]

ezkcdude writes:
> I've just been reading some of the info on the IBM Cell BE processor,
> and it seems like the development of that platform is based primarily
> on C/C++ and Fortran. Although I'm only a newbie to Ada, it seems to
> me like it would fit nicely here, so I am just curious whether it is
> already in the works. And if not, why not?

GCC supports the Cell architecture, but that's new in the trunk and
not yet released.  This feature will be released as part of GCC 4.3,
and will be available to all languages including Ada.  See
http://gcc.gnu.org/gcc-4.3/changes.html

Now, the Cell requires more than just compiler support; it requires
the programmer to explicitly assign tasks to the various cores.  I
suspect you need to compile separate executables for the PowerPC core
and for the "synergistic processor units".

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.