Re: Feasibility of using Ada in new development

[Ludovic Brenta <ludovic.brenta@insalien.org>]

 (Dan McLeran) writes:
> Ada is a great language, but you might want to check out Eiffel. Here
> are a couple of useful links:
>
> http://www.eiffel.com/
> http://smarteiffel.loria.fr/
> http://www.artima.com/articles/index.jsp?topic=eiffel
>
> Pay especially close attention to how design-by-contract is embedded
> within the Eiffel language to help build better software. Also,
> Eiffel is a purely OO language without the shortcuts available to
> C/C++ and Java programmers that compromise software quality.

It is true that Eiffel also promotes software quality, but I still
prefer Ada.  There are several reasons why, but I won't go into a
bashing party here; I consider Eiffel second best after Ada, and still
a very good language.

> As far as Ada is concerned, I recently gave the GNAT Pro toolsuite a
> test drive for my own company's development needs and came away
> unimpressed. I think the Ada language is great, but these tools
> leave alot to be desired. Aonix makes an Ada plugin for Eclipse
> (www.eclipse.org) that might be quit nice, but I have not tried it
> (http://www.eclipseplugincentral.com/displayarticle197.html).
>
> The GUI creation tool, GtkAda, was laughable as compared to
> something like .Net or even some of the free Java GUI creation tools
> out there.  Also, the IDE was not nearly up to par as compared to MS
> .Net, Eclipse, or Borland.

Now you are talking about the tools, not the language.  To be fair,
please provide a similar assessment of tools (IDEs, GUI creation,
etc.) for Eiffel.

I am not fond of IDEs in general (I use the One True Editor for
everything), so I cannot comment on the respective merits of GPS
versus Eclipse, Anjuta, KDevelop, Scintilla, or whatnot.  However, it
is my understanding that whichever you pick, you can develop in Ada
with it.

If you don't like GtkAda, you can try AdaBindX (a binding to Lesstif),
or TASH (a binding to Tcl/Tk).

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.