Re: Advice on selling Ada to a C shop

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

usenet@scriptoriumdesigns.com writes:
> So, what points would you emphasize to each (manager, programmers) to
> make the Ada sale?  I've read a lot of the advocacy and I think I have
> a fair handle on it, but I'd still like other viewpoints, and perhaps
> even examples of such a successful switch.

People with a prejudice against Ada will try to find any excuse to
justify their rejection.  I think the main excuse they will try is "we
cannot find Ada programmers".  To remove this excuse, it is of paramount
importance that you show that (a) you know Ada and have experience with
it, so you can be the "in-house expert" and (b) there is a wide offering
of books, training courses, compilers, libraries and commercial support
for the language.

For (a), you must have some knowledge and experience beyond the theory;
you must at least have written a couple programs that are more than 300
lines long; then explain how much you enjoyed writing those programs and
watching them run the first time with no bugs :)

For (b), you must do some market research up-front before you can pitch
the language to your company.  This is because, in many developers'
minds, a language is only as good as the IDE (*not* the compiler,
unfortunately); so you should be prepared to demo GPS and ObjectAda to
them.  Also, your should reassure them that there exists at least one
cross-compiler that targets your particular environment.  (hint:
SofCheck offers a Ada-to-C translator which allows you to then use your
existing C cross-toolchain).  Maybe you want to contact the various
vendors informally, they may be able to help you convince your
colleagues.

The fact that you do your homework before talking about Ada will go a
long way towards convincing others: if Ada weren't so good, you wouldn't
spend so much time with it would you?

Good luck.

-- 
Ludovic Brenta.