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=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FROM_WORDY autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,2ab5c0d6be7f767f,start X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 108abf,b75c4e97121fbe14 X-Google-Attributes: gid108abf,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2000-08-28 17:46:11 PST Path: supernews.google.com!sn-xit-02!supernews.com!nntp-relay.ihug.net!ihug.co.nz!news-hog.berkeley.edu!ucberkeley!enews.sgi.com!nntp.flash.net!news.flash.net!not-for-mail From: "Ken Garlington" Newsgroups: rec.aviation.military,comp.lang.ada References: <280820001453171408%wab@well.com> Subject: Re: YF-23 first flight 10th anniversary X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Message-ID: <9JDq5.252$YP4.34173@news.flash.net> Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 00:45:57 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 216.215.77.178 X-Complaints-To: abuse@flash.net X-Trace: news.flash.net 967509957 216.215.77.178 (Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:45:57 CDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 19:45:57 CDT Organization: FlashNet Communications, http://www.flash.net Xref: supernews.google.com rec.aviation.military:3231 comp.lang.ada:383 Date: 2000-08-29T00:45:57+00:00 List-Id: "Bill Baker" wrote in message news:280820001453171408%wab@well.com... > In article , Dweezil Dwarftosser > wrote: > > >thunder@rmii.com (Ed Rasimus) writes: > Yeff wrote: > >> > >> >In article <39a0ebd0.69589589@news.rmi.net>, > >> > Ed Rasimus wrote in > >> > rec.aviation.military: > >> > >> >> Ada (I thought it was an acronym for something--?--) > >> > > >> >Go here for information on Ada Lovelace, "Analyst, > >> >Metaphysician, and Founder of Scientific Computing": > >> > >> Ahhaa! I always knew there was something of the metaphysical about > >> programming. Sorcery by another name. Or, does a "metaphysician" cure > >> ailing metas? > > > >I hate to destroy the basis for this good exchange, but Ada was > >named after Blaise Pascal's wife, Ada. (And those who have studied > >programming languages other than 'C' will note the rich legacy of > >Pascal typeing in the Ada language. > > Er, if you believe Grady Booch almost all aspect of Ada sprang fully > formed from his head, like Diana from Zeus' split noggin. I worked for > Rational Software (Booch was one of the founders) during the heart of > the ATF development cycle and my first assignment was "read Booch's > book!" I was a heavy C/UNIX wonk at the time, but I'd done my share of > Pascal coding (although a wanky technical writer, I can code). I can't speak for what Grady Booch said when he was at Rational, but certainly his 1983 book (Software Engineering with Ada) gives credit where due to the various players who participated in the development of Ada. My personal opinion is that Booch was an early and effective advocate for the language, and his book was used widely in the early days of Ada adoption. With respect to Ada the person, he says [in his 1983 book]: "The HOLWG [US DoD joint-service High Order Language Working Group] had never accepted the name DoD-1 for this new language, since it sounded too militaristic and thus might have been scorned by the nondefense sector. In spring 1979, Jack Cooper of the Navy Material Command evolved the perfect name for the new language: Ada, in honor of Augusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, and daughter of the poet Lord Byron [26]. Ada Lovelace (1815-1851) was a mathematician who worked with Charles Babbage on his difference and analytic engines; she is noted for her early observations on the potential power of the computer. In particular, Ada suggested how Babbage's machines might be programmed much like the Jacquard loom, and for this work she is considered the world's first programmer. In a formal exchange of letters between the Deputy Secretary of Defense and Lovelace's heir, the Earl of Lytton, permission was granted to use the name [27]." [26] See also D. L. Moore, Ada, Countess of Lovelace, Byron's Legitimate Daughter, New York: Harper and Row, 1977. [27] Carlson, Druffel, Fisher and Witaker, "Introducing Ada," p. 265 > I don't > recall noting threads of Pascal in Ada. With respect to the relationship of Pascal to Ada, he says: "The four language designs that were accepted for Phase I included: * SofTech (Blue) * SRI International (Yellow) * Intermetrics (Red) * Honeywell/Honeywell Bull (Green) It is significant to note that each of these contractors used Pascal as the base language for their design of the new language." [Green eventually won and became the basis for Ada.] > > >Personally, I think that's the > >problem with Ada: none of the youngsters can deal effectively with > >the enforced discipline of a strongly-typed language.) > > Despite being a big fan of the anarchic freedoms of C/UNIX, I rather > thought it a shame that Ada got trounced by C++. I thought the basic > phenomenological "concepts" underlying Ada--Booch's supposed O-O > wizardry--were bunk, but the idea of a strongly typed, ground-up new > language with built-in features for architectural rigor...that I liked > a lot. Consistent software architecture makes life much easier for us > doc. folk. > > BTW, Northrup accounted for a huge chunk of our revenue stream during > that time period. Since most of it was "black" spending I assume, in > retrospect, they were using our CASE gear for the B-2 avionics > development, but I think we may have been the prime Ada development > platform for the YF-23 team, too. Lockheed (CA) also had at least one Rational machine that was used for Dem/Val development, as well, although IIRC the bulk of the work was done using the VAX/VMS platform and a variety of compiler vendors (Verdix, TeleSoft, and DEC among them).