Re: Ada The Best Language?

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

I'm glad I've got an ally here. I would not be totally shocked to discover
that ACT is working on something very much like that. (Put this in the
Totally Unfounded Speculation department). After all, a good many of the
tools you list are things that ACT already tinkers with. Its not
inconceivable to me that they might be integrating some of these things more
than they already are & improving their product as a result. Some
integration must be happening - how much is yet to be seen.

I drove Aonix around a number of years ago - the product was at the time not
really mature and suffered some problems as a result. I was also
considerably less experienced with Windows programming (which they assumed
you knew or would pick up a Windows C/C++ book and learn) at the time, so I
didn't get much farther than evaluating the product and deciding that for
the mission at hand I didn't want to try to use it. (not enough time to get
it all working and the project was short/unimportant and other tools were
there to do it.) I believe we looked at their product for the embedded
PowerPC on another project and settled on that - but that was someone else's
problem at the time. Maybe the environment is more sophisticated & reliable
at this juncture? Maybe its worth taking another look at? Maybe its price is
down some from (IIRC $700something neighborhood?)

I think one of the big disappointments to me with the Aonix environment was
that at the time, there was a shortage of documentation on how to use it
with Windows - sort of assuming you'd know how to do that from using MSVC++,
etc. That, of course, raises the question "Then why not just use MSVC++
since you've got to know it & have it anyway?" I also sort of felt that it
should have presented a more Ada-ish feeling to Windows programming - but I
can't blame them for not wanting to produce something that would be
unfamiliar to the experienced Windows developer. Still, I think it would be
good to take a look at where it is at after this much time...

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/


"Beard, Frank" <beardf@spawar.navy.mil> wrote in message
news:mailman.996265410.27257.comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org...
>
> While I understand what you're saying, having come from a similar
> background, I think the lack of a complete/integrated environment
> is exactly the reason you have the shortage of Ada developers.  I
> like Marin's idea of the "Red Hat" approach to bundling a complete
> and powerful environment.  If someone had the time and inclination,
> they could bundle a package for Unix and one for Windows that
> contained something like (forgive me if I get the tools confused):
>
> - GtkAda
> - GLIDE
> - GLADE
> - ODBC bindings
> - a database
> - COM/DCOM
> - CORBA
> - etc (whatever I'm forgetting)
> - documentation and examples
>
> I think it would make an incredible difference.  Being one of those
> that like the IDE approach, I see it all the time in the Windows
> environment.  You can't tell me so many migrated to Windows because
> they like Bill Gates and just want to make him rich.  I have no desire
> to start an OS flame, but Windows is much simpler for the end user and
> for the developer for general applications.  Just look at the suite of
> tools available from Micro$oft & Borland (Inprise).  Every time our
> Delphi people want to implement something there is already and API or
> interface available in the tool.  All they have to do is call it.  I'm
> just amazed how fast those guys can crank things out.  I want to be
> able to do that in Ada, but it would take me weeks if it weren't part
> of my environment.
>
> Just me 0.02, as well. :-)
>
> Frank