From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,447bd1cf7a88c198 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-01-04 12:32:21 PST Path: supernews.google.com!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!newsswitch.lcs.mit.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.icl.net!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!diablo.theplanet.net!diablo.dera.gov.uk!dera!not-for-mail From: "Kevin Rigotti" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Do we need "Mission-Critical" software? Was: What to Do? Date: Thu, 4 Jan 2001 20:30:58 -0000 Organization: Defence Evaluation & Research Agency Message-ID: <932mi6$r2k$1@trog.dera.gov.uk> References: <3A4F5A4A.9ABA2C4F@chicagonet.net> <3A4F759E.A7D63F3F@netwood.net> <3A50ABDF.3A8F6C0D@acm.org> <92qdnn$jfg$1@news.huji.ac.il> <3A50C371.8B7B871@home.com> <3A51EC04.91353CE7@uol.com.br> <3A529C97.2CA4777F@home.com> <3A53CB9E.EA7CF86C@uol.com.br> <3A5466DE.811D43A5@acm.org> <932aol$ikc$1@nnrp1.deja.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 194.61.191.135 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3612.1700 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3612.1700 Xref: supernews.google.com comp.lang.ada:3662 Date: 2001-01-04T20:30:58+00:00 List-Id: Much as it pains me to say so, Ada is not always the most appropriate language. For example, however good the bindings, toolsets, etc that are available it is simply easier and more convenient to write X Windows user interfaces in C/C++ because that's what the designers expected you to do. Bindings and support for Gtk are a good thing, but at the end of the day what I and others in a similar situation really want to do is to build the clever stuff in Ada then hand it over for integration with someone elses GUI, produced using whatever is cheapest and easiest. I don't care if the trivial stuff is written in C, C++, Java or anything else but I do care about integration costs, particularly if they are so painful that I have to implement experiment critical code in a language I consider inappropriate in order to reduce them. So, the thing that would make the biggest impact on the uptake of Ada in my environment at the moment is being able to mix and match Ada with C++ seamlessly, using whichever fitted the problem most cost effectively. Doing this for compilers from the same family such as GNAT and G++ is a good start but only a serious standardisation effort is really going to have the required impact and allow Import(cpp, ...) to be taken for granted in the way that Import(C, ...) now is. We could then use the youngest, cheapest staff for the C++ hacking and when they'd had time to learn what real software engineering was all about they could move on to doing the important stuff in Ada. People need upgrade paths too :-) Kevin