Re: Ada to C++ translator?

["Marin David Condic" <marin.condic.auntie.spam@pacemicro.com>]

"Ken Garlington" <Ken.Garlington@computer.org> wrote in message
news:e%9j6.251$uU2.28276829@newssvr16.news.prodigy.com...
> Don't expect C++ to have better productivity numbers than C? Seems like a
> statement that needs to be defended with data to me...
>
> IMO, this thread is one of the reasons why Ada is so hard to sell. There
are
> so many claims that Ada is "obviously" better than all other options in
all
> other circumstances that it makes me cringe. Don't get me wrong -- I love
> Ada -- but advocates hype it so hard that it sounds like used-car
salesmen.
> We have built products in both C and Ada; our data doesn't show a
*12-to-1*
> difference in debug times!
>
While I basically agree that hype and exageration do not help "The Cause", I
think it is important to note the YMMV caveat. If you have experienced Ada
developers who are writing code in C/C++, chances are they are going to
avoid the "Stupid C Tricks" and work effectively with the software design to
make sure it is a solid piece of C code. If you are talking about "typical"
C code (especially that which may have been developed several years ago) you
might get drastically different results.

Most C code I have encountered is pretty lousy because your garden variety C
programmer tends to have more of an assembly language mentality and/or is
enamoured with the conciseness and cleverness possible within the language.
They tend to have the attitude that "this ought to be understood by any
*competent* C programmer!!!" with no regard for the economics involved. (You
can't always have a team of "competent" C programmers and it doesn't make
the company any money to have someone stopping in the middle of reading some
code to go delving into C manuals to decrypt your obscure "clever" code. In
other words, clear, simple, idiot-proof code may not be as interesting to
write, but it MAKES MONEY!)

So it may be hard to draw across-the-board conclusions about C/C++ v Ada in
terms of the economics, but I have no trouble believing that within some env
ironments there may very well be a 12/1 ratio. The only way to know for sure
is to measure locally. And of course there are environments wherein bugs
don't matter much so there is less concern over the maintenance cost. One
needs to consider lots of factors in making judgements about the economics
of a given technology.

MDC
--
Marin David Condic
Senior Software Engineer
Pace Micro Technology Americas    www.pacemicro.com
Enabling the digital revolution
e-Mail:    marin.condic@pacemicro.com
Web:      http://www.mcondic.com/