Re: ada and robots

["Marin David Condic, 561.796.8997, M/S 731-93" <condicma@PWFL.COM>]

Dale Stanbrough <dale@GOANNA.CS.RMIT.EDU.AU> writes:
>"small systems a student can afford"
>        The Meridian Ada compiler, which comes for free with a book, is rather
>        cheap, and targets any of the 8086 family (which are cheap, no?).
>        It is Ada83 however. So I think you agree with you.
>
    Before I start my tirade, let me preface by saying that I *like*
    Ada and prefer Ada to C. I 'reach', I'm 'of the body', Resistance
    was futile: I have been absorbed, I am part of The Borg, etc. But
    that doesn't mean there aren't some valid criticisms of Ada or
    times when C is more appropriate.

    I believe when the original poster was discussing this issue, it
    was about small, inexpensive microcontrollers for robotics. I've
    looked at a number of such computers (stuff that can be had for
    between $80 and $200, including development software {read: C
    compiler, loading & debugging tools}). An 8086 running some
    version of real-time MS-DOS (plus cobbling together your own
    cross-compilation environment) may be overkill, may not provide
    the analog & discrete I/O hardware support needed and would
    probably require non-trivial effort to get the Meridian Ada
    compiler, etc. set up to produce/load/debug code in the SBC.

    I imagine one could spend money/time retargeting GNAT to some SBC
    & get it up and running with the RTEMS real-time OS and cobble
    yourself together everything you need to load/debug images. Or you
    could buy the little microcontroller for $200 and get an
    integrated development environment using a C compiler. It doesn't
    take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. {But if it did, I
    just so happen to be one!}

    The embedded microcontroller market seems to have been conceeded
    to C for the time being and, especially for student projects,
    small development jobs and quick&dirty fixes, I'd recommend not
    spitting into the wind. (You certainly can't argue that life cycle
    costs are going to recoup me the $100k+ cost of building the
    port!) And this is *one* area where I'd desperately like to be
    proven wrong - if you want to show me a small (~3" x 5") SBC with
    analog & discrete connections, programmable from a serial port on
    a PC with an integrated development environment including an Ada95
    compiler for around $200, I'll gladly admit I'm wrong.

    As for the rest of the criticisms you addressed, I think you're
    right on target.

    MDC

Marin David Condic, Senior Computer Engineer    ATT:        561.796.8997
Pratt & Whitney, GESP                           Fax:        561.796.4669
West Palm Beach, FL                             Internet:   CONDICMA@PWFL.COM
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    "Having an open mind is nothing. The object of opening the mind, as
    of opening the mouth, is to shut it again on something solid."

        --  G.K. Chesterton
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