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=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,cec20777e0d41ea0 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2001-02-21 13:16:17 PST Path: supernews.google.com!sn-xit-03!supernews.com!freenix!fr.clara.net!heighliner.fr.clara.net!grolier!newsfeed.planete.net!psinet-france!psiuk-f4!psiuk-p4!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Increased Interest In Ada? Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 15:54:26 -0500 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: <9719vr$8a2$1@nh.pace.co.uk> References: <3A82EFA2.C8756B09@acm.org> <970ma1$1l7$1@nh.pace.co.uk> NNTP-Posting-Host: 136.170.200.133 X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 982788923 8514 136.170.200.133 (21 Feb 2001 20:55:23 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 21 Feb 2001 20:55:23 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: supernews.google.com comp.lang.ada:5409 Date: 2001-02-21T20:55:23+00:00 List-Id: It occurrs to me that much of the embedded programming experience could be simulated in software. Obviously, you wouldn't get the "Real World" experience of dealing with actual physical entities, but, for example, actuators could be displayed on a screen and made to move much as they would in the physical world. The software interface to such simulated sensors and actuators wouldn't be quite the same thing as having to deal with actual ports, memory addresses, etc., but it might be made close enough to be a useful experience. Providing such a simulation in Ada would certainly be a lot easier to achieve than finding an appropriate embedded target & compiler port. Question: Given that a simulation like this would lack certain important aspects of the embedded, realtime programming experience (having to somehow work with a cross-compilation environment, dealing with linkage issues, memory mapping, physical reality, etc.) might it still be useful as a teaching tool? I think a simulation in conjunction with hardware would be useful, but I'm wondering about finding a way around the problem of compiler and hardware availability? MDC "Marin David Condic" wrote in message news:970ma1$1l7$1@nh.pace.co.uk... > I could imagine Ada being popular in electrical engineering departments if > there were a convenient and inexpensive (maybe free?) Ada environment for > playing around with embedded computing. It would have to work "off the > shelf" with readily available hardware so that some prof could build a > class/lab around it & students could afford to play with it on their own. I > am thinking of Dr. McCormick's model railroad class or the Lego robot > discussed here a while ago. If either of these was packaged as "An embedded > programming course in a bag" so that a prof could just pick it up and start > teaching it, this might go a long way toward encouraging Ada as an > educational tool as well as a practical tool for building real-world > systems. > -- 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/