* RE: Ada The Best Language?
@ 2001-07-18 8:43 Vinzent Hoefler
2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring
` (2 more replies)
0 siblings, 3 replies; 42+ messages in thread
From: Vinzent Hoefler @ 2001-07-18 8:43 UTC (permalink / raw)
Original Message From codesavvy@aol.com (codesavvy)
>What class(es) of programming problems does Ada
>solve that C++ can't?
What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't?
Vinzent.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 8:43 Ada The Best Language? Vinzent Hoefler @ 2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring 2001-07-18 8:58 ` Lutz Donnerhacke 2001-07-18 14:06 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 17:11 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Gerhard Häring @ 2001-07-18 9:22 UTC (permalink / raw) On Wed, 18 Jul 2001 04:43:59 -0400, Vinzent Hoefler wrote: >Original Message From codesavvy@aol.com (codesavvy) > >>What class(es) of programming problems does Ada >>solve that C++ can't? > >What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? OOP. Generic programming. Programming in the large. ... One might argue that Ada solves them better, though. Gerhard -- mail: gerhard <at> bigfoot <dot> de registered Linux user #64239 web: http://highqualdev.com public key at homepage public key fingerprint: DEC1 1D02 5743 1159 CD20 A4B6 7B22 6575 86AB 43C0 reduce(lambda x,y: x+y, [chr(ord(x)^42) for x in list('zS^BED\nX_FOY\x0b')]) ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring @ 2001-07-18 8:58 ` Lutz Donnerhacke 0 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Lutz Donnerhacke @ 2001-07-18 8:58 UTC (permalink / raw) * Gerhard H�ring wrote: >On Wed, 18 Jul 2001 04:43:59 -0400, Vinzent Hoefler wrote: >>Original Message From codesavvy@aol.com (codesavvy) >>>What class(es) of programming problems does Ada >>>solve that C++ can't? >> >>What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? > >OOP. Generic programming. Programming in the large. ... That's all possible with asm, too: - OOP is a design concept which can be easily implemented in asm by applying a well thought structure to data entities. - Generic programming is directly supported by macros. OTOH commiting data strutures to a consistent level of indirection, generic algorithms instantiated only once are no problem. - Editors supporting Folding and assembler supporting multiple source files allow very large programms. All done on my C64. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 8:43 Ada The Best Language? Vinzent Hoefler 2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring @ 2001-07-18 14:06 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 15:27 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-19 17:11 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: codesavvy @ 2001-07-18 14:06 UTC (permalink / raw) Comparing the difference between Ada and C++ to the difference between a higher level language and assembly is very silly. It reeks of the arrogance that I am describing. Thanks for proving my point. Vinzent Hoefler <vinzent@MailAndNews.com> wrote in message news:<3B59EE1C@MailAndNews.com>... > Original Message From codesavvy@aol.com (codesavvy) > > >What class(es) of programming problems does Ada > >solve that C++ can't? > > What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? > > > Vinzent. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 14:06 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-18 15:27 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy 0 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-18 15:27 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy wrote: > > Comparing the difference between Ada and C++ to the difference between > a higher level language and assembly is very silly. It reeks of the > arrogance that I am describing. Thanks for proving my point. No, your question is bogus and the point proven is not what you think. Here again is your original question: "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't." Any computable problem can be solved by an appropriately programmed Turing Machine (TM). Programming language constructs can be converted into TM instructions (albeit very long and tedious ones). Therefore a C++ to TM compiler, an Ada to TM compiler, or an Assembly language to TM compiler, can solve any computable problem. That you asked this question demonstrates that you do not understand computability. Therefore asking to compare programming languages (of any level) in terms of what can or cannot be programmed using them is (very) silly. They are TM-equivalent. Marc A. Criley Senior Staff Engineer Quadrus Corporation www.quadruscorp.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 15:27 ` Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New ` (2 more replies) 0 siblings, 3 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: codesavvy @ 2001-07-18 20:31 UTC (permalink / raw) "Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<3B559E79.F21DBE5C@earthlink.net>... > codesavvy wrote: > > > > Comparing the difference between Ada and C++ to the difference between > > a higher level language and assembly is very silly. It reeks of the > > arrogance that I am describing. Thanks for proving my point. > > No, your question is bogus and the point proven is not what you think. > Here again is your original question: > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? Of course you ignore the other question that pertains to the point I'm trying to make. > "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't." > > Any computable problem can be solved by an appropriately programmed > Turing Machine (TM). Programming language constructs can be converted > into TM instructions (albeit very long and tedious ones). Therefore a > C++ to TM compiler, an Ada to TM compiler, or an Assembly language to TM > compiler, can solve any computable problem. > Of course this is true but there are certain problems that are solved more "productively" with certain languages as opposed to other languages. > That you asked this question demonstrates that you do not understand > computability. Therefore asking to compare programming languages (of > any level) in terms of what can or cannot be programmed using them is > (very) silly. They are TM-equivalent. > All this to put someone down. I suggest you read my post again and don't quote it out of context. It's very simple really, all one has to do is indicate some hard evidence that developers are significantly more productive with Ada 95 than say C++. Do you have anything besides your opinions? > Marc A. Criley > Senior Staff Engineer > Quadrus Corporation > www.quadruscorp.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New 2001-07-18 21:56 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 13:12 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred 2 siblings, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Darren New @ 2001-07-18 21:29 UTC (permalink / raw) > All this to put someone down. I suggest you read my post again and > don't quote it out of context. It's very simple really, all one has > to do is indicate some hard evidence that developers are significantly > more productive with Ada 95 than say C++. Do you have anything > besides your opinions? This is a bogus question. People have provided a list of areas in which Ada makes programmers more productive than C++ does. For example, in the areas of portable real-time systems, portable multithreaded code, portable distributed programming, etc. There are other areas where Ada and C++ are approximately equivalent. Then you ask for hard evidence where Ada is superior to C++. Well, nobody is going to do a study where portable distributed multitasking is vital to success and code it in C++ and Ada just to see which works better. That's just silly. Show me hard evidence that drawing pie charts in Excel is easier than drawing pie charts by flogging the bits of the video card in raw C without any libraries? What? No evidence out there? Then surely Excel's no better than C for doing that. If your hypothetical managers aren't doing stuff where Ada is superior to C++, then they might not get "sufficient" productivity increase out of learning Ada as compared to knowing what they already know. So? -- Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-18 21:56 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 3:37 ` Larry Hazel 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 1 sibling, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-18 21:56 UTC (permalink / raw) There is one other thing to bring up along these lines. Are there any studies with hard data that C++ shows a productivity increase over programming in C? The point is, the industry just simply doesn't do this kind of study. If someone had such a study of C++ vs C, we could sit here for months arguing over all the relevant factors and trying to decide if the syntax of the language itself was the reason for the boost or if it was the presence of libraries of code to be leveraged or was it changes in technology, yada yada yada. There is some anectdotal evidence to site that Ada is more productive than C++. There are some reasons based on logic and analysis that indicate that Ada *ought to be* more productive than C++. There are actually a few studies that are at least half-way scientific that indicate Ada buys you productivity (and error reduction). Dr. McCormic's study is the only one I know of that comes close to a controlled experiment and *it* shows a productivity increase. I think this may very well be more evidence than is available to indicate that C++ is more productive than C - but would anybody seriously challenge the latter? Why does Ada have to pass some test that C++ can't pass? 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/ "Darren New" <dnew@san.rr.com> wrote in message news:3B55FFD5.9927BD6@san.rr.com... > > This is a bogus question. People have provided a list of areas in which > Ada makes programmers more productive than C++ does. For example, in the > areas of portable real-time systems, portable multithreaded code, > portable distributed programming, etc. > > There are other areas where Ada and C++ are approximately equivalent. > > Then you ask for hard evidence where Ada is superior to C++. Well, > nobody is going to do a study where portable distributed multitasking is > vital to success and code it in C++ and Ada just to see which works > better. That's just silly. > > Show me hard evidence that drawing pie charts in Excel is easier than > drawing pie charts by flogging the bits of the video card in raw C > without any libraries? What? No evidence out there? Then surely Excel's > no better than C for doing that. > > If your hypothetical managers aren't doing stuff where Ada is superior > to C++, then they might not get "sufficient" productivity increase out > of learning Ada as compared to knowing what they already know. So? > > -- > Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. > San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. > Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 21:56 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 3:37 ` Larry Hazel 2001-07-19 18:19 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-21 15:33 ` Mark Lundquist 0 siblings, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Larry Hazel @ 2001-07-19 3:37 UTC (permalink / raw) Marin David Condic wrote: > > There is one other thing to bring up along these lines. Are there any > studies with hard data that C++ shows a productivity increase over > programming in C? The point is, the industry just simply doesn't do this > kind of study. If someone had such a study of C++ vs C, we could sit here > for months arguing over all the relevant factors and trying to decide if the > syntax of the language itself was the reason for the boost or if it was the > presence of libraries of code to be leveraged or was it changes in > technology, yada yada yada. > > There is some anectdotal evidence to site that Ada is more productive than > C++. There are some reasons based on logic and analysis that indicate that > Ada *ought to be* more productive than C++. There are actually a few studies > that are at least half-way scientific that indicate Ada buys you > productivity (and error reduction). Dr. McCormic's study is the only one I > know of that comes close to a controlled experiment and *it* shows a > productivity increase. I think this may very well be more evidence than is > available to indicate that C++ is more productive than C - but would anybody > seriously challenge the latter? Why does Ada have to pass some test that C++ > can't pass? Is Dr. McCormic the professor with the software controlling model trains? If so, I believe his data showed an enormous productivity increase over C (C++ ????). Larry ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 3:37 ` Larry Hazel @ 2001-07-19 18:19 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-21 15:33 ` Mark Lundquist 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 18:19 UTC (permalink / raw) Yes, that's him. I've posted links to a couple of his papers on the subject elsewhere in this thread. (Twice, I think.) Look around. The papers make for interesting reading. 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/ "Larry Hazel" <lhazel@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:3B5655F0.3442DBF1@mindspring.com... > > > Is Dr. McCormic the professor with the software controlling model trains? If > so, I believe his data showed an enormous productivity increase over C (C++ > ????). > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 3:37 ` Larry Hazel 2001-07-19 18:19 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-21 15:33 ` Mark Lundquist 2001-07-23 13:50 ` Marin David Condic 1 sibling, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Mark Lundquist @ 2001-07-21 15:33 UTC (permalink / raw) "Larry Hazel" <lhazel@mindspring.com> wrote in message news:3B5655F0.3442DBF1@mindspring.com... > Is Dr. McCormic the professor with the software controlling model trains? If > so, I believe his data showed an enormous productivity increase over C (C++ > ????). Yes -- he's the train guy! -- mark ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-21 15:33 ` Mark Lundquist @ 2001-07-23 13:50 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. 0 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-23 13:50 UTC (permalink / raw) One more time with the links because they are *really* worth reading as possibly the *only* "controlled" experiment in software productivity. (Maybe there are others, but this is the only one I know of where we are taling about doing the *same* project more than once with a multitude of developers each taking a stab at it so that it has some statistical significance and the only variable being language.) http://www2.dynamite.com.au/aebrain/ADACASE.HTM http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2000/aug/mccormick.asp 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/ "Mark Lundquist" <up.yerz@nospam.com> wrote in message news:hhh67.385587$p33.7760908@news1.sttls1.wa.home.com... > > "Larry Hazel" <lhazel@mindspring.com> wrote in message > news:3B5655F0.3442DBF1@mindspring.com... > > > Is Dr. McCormic the professor with the software controlling model trains? > If > > so, I believe his data showed an enormous productivity increase over C > (C++ > > ????). > > Yes -- he's the train guy! > -- mark > > > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* RE: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-23 13:50 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. 2001-07-24 6:47 ` tmoran ` (2 more replies) 0 siblings, 3 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. @ 2001-07-24 4:52 UTC (permalink / raw) To: comp.lang.ada From: Bob Leif To: Marin David Condic et al. Although I like the results of Professor McCormick's experiment, they are clearly insufficient for making billion dollar and national security decisions. One major problem is that, it is virtually impossible to do a double blind experiment where neither the instructor nor the student knew the name of the programming language that was being taught. The concept of a placebo is also totally inappropriate for this type of study. I suspect that the only way to compensate for the lack of these two basic tools is to increase the study size and expense. If we had parallel classes for the languages and selected the students at random for each language, meaningful results could be obtained. In the case of the other languages, we would have to find faculty members who really believed in the other languages and had a level of enthusiasm equal to Professors McCormick, Feldman, Dewar, etc. One way to obtain funding for this type of study is to include gender as a variable. If we can prove that the C class of languages are sexist, we have got it made. I would not be surprised if this were true. -----Original Message----- From: comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org [mailto:comp.lang.ada-admin@ada.eu.org]On Behalf Of Marin David Condic Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 6:51 AM To: comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org Subject: Re: Ada The Best Language? One more time with the links because they are *really* worth reading as possibly the *only* "controlled" experiment in software productivity. (Maybe there are others, but this is the only one I know of where we are taling about doing the *same* project more than once with a multitude of developers each taking a stab at it so that it has some statistical significance and the only variable being language.) http://www2.dynamite.com.au/aebrain/ADACASE.HTM http://www.stsc.hill.af.mil/crosstalk/2000/aug/mccormick.asp 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/ "Mark Lundquist" <up.yerz@nospam.com> wrote in message news:hhh67.385587$p33.7760908@news1.sttls1.wa.home.com... > > "Larry Hazel" <lhazel@mindspring.com> wrote in message > news:3B5655F0.3442DBF1@mindspring.com... > > > Is Dr. McCormic the professor with the software controlling model trains? > If > > so, I believe his data showed an enormous productivity increase over C > (C++ > > ????). > > Yes -- he's the train guy! > -- mark > > > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* RE: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. @ 2001-07-24 6:47 ` tmoran 2001-07-24 11:47 ` Larry Kilgallen 2001-07-24 14:10 ` Ted Dennison 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: tmoran @ 2001-07-24 6:47 UTC (permalink / raw) >clearly insufficient for making billion dollar and national security >decisions. We currently make those decisions with no solid information. Even jello would be better than hot air. >One major problem is that, it is virtually impossible to do a >double blind experiment where neither the instructor nor the student knew >the name of the programming language that was being taught. The concept of a >placebo is also totally inappropriate for this type of study. Remember we're looking for a substantial effect so sensitivity is not terribly important. If the Hawthorne effect overwhelms the language effect, perhaps we should stop worrying about languages and instead devote our energies to methods of programmer motivation. IIRC after Hawthorne they forgot about their original control variable and instead went on, productively, to study motivation. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* RE: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. 2001-07-24 6:47 ` tmoran @ 2001-07-24 11:47 ` Larry Kilgallen 2001-07-24 14:10 ` Ted Dennison 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Larry Kilgallen @ 2001-07-24 11:47 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <mailman.995950476.32432.comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org>, "Robert C. Leif, Ph.D." <rleif@rleif.com> writes: > Although I like the results of Professor McCormick's experiment, they are > clearly insufficient for making billion dollar and national security > decisions. One major problem is that, it is virtually impossible to do a > double blind experiment where neither the instructor nor the student knew > the name of the programming language that was being taught. The idea that students would subconciously apply more effort because the language is Ada is totally at odds with Ada's reputation among those who do not know it. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: RE: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. 2001-07-24 6:47 ` tmoran 2001-07-24 11:47 ` Larry Kilgallen @ 2001-07-24 14:10 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-27 11:29 ` Jacob Sparre Andersen 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-24 14:10 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <mailman.995950476.32432.comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org>, Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. says... >One way to obtain funding for this type of study is to include gender as a >variable. If we can prove that the C class of languages are sexist, we have >got it made. I would not be surprised if this were true. Heck, while we're at it, let's call C racist, homophobic, and anti-semetic too. :-) I searched in vain for the smilely face on this paragraph. I guess you just forgot to put it in. There's no way you could be serious. If you are though, I have a feeling I don't want to hear the explanation... --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-24 14:10 ` Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-27 11:29 ` Jacob Sparre Andersen 0 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Jacob Sparre Andersen @ 2001-07-27 11:29 UTC (permalink / raw) Ted: > In article <mailman.995950476.32432.comp.lang.ada@ada.eu.org>, Robert C. Leif, > Ph.D. says... > >One way to obtain funding for this type of study is to include gender as a > >variable. If we can prove that the C class of languages are sexist, we have > >got it made. I would not be surprised if this were true. > > Heck, while we're at it, let's call C racist, homophobic, and anti-semetic too. > :-) :-( > I searched in vain for the smilely face on this paragraph. I guess you just > forgot to put it in. There's no way you could be serious. I don't know if Robert was serious or not, but experimental evidence from experiments in Danish schools support the idea. Basically the _general_ difference between how boys and girls approach problem solving can be described as "try and see what happens" vs. "solid engineering". This difference has a certain resemblance to the difference between C and Ada. This is not fun, and may have more to do with how kids are raised than with actual gender differences, but it is so. Jacob -- "Alle telnet-d�moner b�r aflives" ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New 2001-07-18 21:56 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 2:51 ` DuckE ` (2 more replies) 1 sibling, 3 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: codesavvy @ 2001-07-19 21:47 UTC (permalink / raw) Then Ada will be forever relegated to a fulfilling specific niches. I believe you'll see more organizations switching from Ada to C++ rather than the other way around. Darren New <dnew@san.rr.com> wrote in message news:<3B55FFD5.9927BD6@san.rr.com>... > > All this to put someone down. I suggest you read my post again and > > don't quote it out of context. It's very simple really, all one has > > to do is indicate some hard evidence that developers are significantly > > more productive with Ada 95 than say C++. Do you have anything > > besides your opinions? > > This is a bogus question. People have provided a list of areas in which > Ada makes programmers more productive than C++ does. For example, in the > areas of portable real-time systems, portable multithreaded code, > portable distributed programming, etc. > > There are other areas where Ada and C++ are approximately equivalent. > > Then you ask for hard evidence where Ada is superior to C++. Well, > nobody is going to do a study where portable distributed multitasking is > vital to success and code it in C++ and Ada just to see which works > better. That's just silly. > > Show me hard evidence that drawing pie charts in Excel is easier than > drawing pie charts by flogging the bits of the video card in raw C > without any libraries? What? No evidence out there? Then surely Excel's > no better than C for doing that. > > If your hypothetical managers aren't doing stuff where Ada is superior > to C++, then they might not get "sufficient" productivity increase out > of learning Ada as compared to knowing what they already know. So? ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-21 2:51 ` DuckE 2001-07-21 3:46 ` Darren New 2001-07-26 1:39 ` Lao Xiao Hai 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: DuckE @ 2001-07-21 2:51 UTC (permalink / raw) "codesavvy" <codesavvy@aol.com> wrote in message news:5be89e2f.0107191347.4a38f590@posting.google.com... > Then Ada will be forever relegated to a fulfilling specific niches. I > believe you'll see more organizations switching from Ada to C++ rather > than the other way around. > An interesting note... A couple of years ago I asked one Ada vendor how the market was doing. She said she couldn't speak for everyone, but their buisness was on the rise. She also said that when the mandate was first dropped they lost some customers to C... but after some experience with C many were coming back to Ada :-) SteveD ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 2:51 ` DuckE @ 2001-07-21 3:46 ` Darren New 2001-07-26 1:39 ` Lao Xiao Hai 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Darren New @ 2001-07-21 3:46 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy wrote: > Then Ada will be forever relegated to a fulfilling specific niches. While this may be true, it's not because of Ada's capabilities. If it offers everything C++ offers and more, yet people are only willing to use it when they need the "and more", then it seems to me that the problem (if such it is) is not with the language but with the social institutions. -- Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 2:51 ` DuckE 2001-07-21 3:46 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-26 1:39 ` Lao Xiao Hai 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Lao Xiao Hai @ 2001-07-26 1:39 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy wrote: > Then Ada will be forever relegated to a fulfilling specific niches. I > believe you'll see more organizations switching from Ada to C++ rather > than the other way around. With the abrogation of the Ada "mandate" there was an exodus from the safe haven of Ada to the wilderness of C++. For many organizations, there was a "grass is always greener" effect. As this transition from reliability to unreliability proceeded, a few intelligent managers realized, once they fully understood the implications of C++, the folly of their decision. Those who are able to stop this silliness, are sticking to Ada. For others, the inexorable slide into spending more to produce the same level of reliability they enjoyed with Ada has reached a point of no return. Those who have turned back will realize economic benefits of their decision. Those who have not will simply waste more DoD money. It is interesting, also, to note that we are already hearing prophecies about the death of C++. One only need turn the page to comp.lang.C++.moderated to note the presence of doomsayers. Languages typically do not die off so quickly. We continue to have people maintaining Jovial, CMS-2, TACPOL, COBOL-68, and other elderly languages. The communications satellites, as well as other vehicles programmed in Ada have a lifetime of upwards of twenty years. People will still be learning Ada to maintain that software a long time from now. The same will be true of C++. Richard Riehle AdaWorks Software Engineering richard@adaworks.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-19 13:12 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-19 17:11 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-19 13:12 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy wrote: > > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? Of course you ignore the > other question that pertains to the point I'm trying to make. Of course I ignored the questions to which I was not responding, I conscientiously chose to respond only to the..yes..bogus question you asked: > > > "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't. > > > > Any computable problem can be solved by an appropriately programmed > > Turing Machine (TM). Programming language constructs can be converted > > into TM instructions (albeit very long and tedious ones). Therefore a > > C++ to TM compiler, an Ada to TM compiler, or an Assembly language to TM > > compiler, can solve any computable problem. > > > > Of course this is true but there are certain problems that are solved > more "productively" with certain languages as opposed to other > languages. Oh, did I misread the question? I thought it said "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't."--which is a bogus question. I didn't realize that what that meant was "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve more productively than C++". > > That you asked this question demonstrates that you do not understand > > computability. Therefore asking to compare programming languages (of > > any level) in terms of what can or cannot be programmed using them is > > (very) silly. They are TM-equivalent. > > > > All this to put someone down. I commend you on your perception. comp.lang.ada is a technical newsgroup that is patronized by both a large number of highly experienced, knowledgable software professionals as well as less experienced individuals that are seeking to learn more. A newcomer to the group then announces him or herself by making demands for metrics and studies and dismisses as unsupported opinion the millenia of hard-earned experience held by its participants, asks bogus questions indicating a flawed understanding of computability, and makes assertions that are glaringly false--such as compiler and platform ports being very rare. > Do you have anything besides your opinions? A rap across the snout with a newspaper is not out of order. Marc A. Criley Senior Staff Engineer Quadrus Corporation www.quadruscorp.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 13:12 ` Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-19 17:11 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 14:10 ` Marc A. Criley 0 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: codesavvy @ 2001-07-19 17:11 UTC (permalink / raw) "Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<3B56D060.EF478F36@earthlink.net>... > codesavvy wrote: > > > > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? Of course you ignore the > > other question that pertains to the point I'm trying to make. > > Of course I ignored the questions to which I was not responding, I > conscientiously chose to respond only to the..yes..bogus question you > asked: I'm glad you're admitting that you are purposely distorting the intent of what I wrote. > > > > > "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't. > > > > > > Any computable problem can be solved by an appropriately programmed > > > Turing Machine (TM). Programming language constructs can be converted > > > into TM instructions (albeit very long and tedious ones). Therefore a > > > C++ to TM compiler, an Ada to TM compiler, or an Assembly language to TM > > > compiler, can solve any computable problem. > > > > > > > Of course this is true but there are certain problems that are solved > > more "productively" with certain languages as opposed to other > > languages. > > Oh, did I misread the question? I thought it said "What class(es) of > programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't."--which is a bogus > question. I didn't realize that what that meant was "What class(es) of > programming problems does Ada solve more productively than C++". > It's not a bogus question when you answer it in the context of my post. Many other people understood but you didn't. That's ok you don't have to. > > > That you asked this question demonstrates that you do not understand > > > computability. Therefore asking to compare programming languages (of > > > any level) in terms of what can or cannot be programmed using them is > > > (very) silly. They are TM-equivalent. > > > > > > > All this to put someone down. > > I commend you on your perception. > > comp.lang.ada is a technical newsgroup that is patronized by both a > large number of highly experienced, knowledgable software professionals > as well as less experienced individuals that are seeking to learn more. > A newcomer to the group then announces him or herself by making demands > for metrics and studies and dismisses as unsupported opinion the > millenia of hard-earned experience held by its participants, asks bogus > questions indicating a flawed understanding of computability, and makes > assertions that are glaringly false--such as compiler and platform ports > being very rare. > So you make the final decision on what is appropriate and what is not. I don't think that you've been appointed to such a position. As far as metrics vs. "hard-earned" experience (a nebulous concept at best) I believe that one of the problems with the software development community is that there is too much qualitative analysis and too little quantitative analysis. I haven't made any accusations that are glaringly false nor have I made any bogus assertions. As far as compiler platform ports, you offer little evidence to support your claim and thus it amounts to only an opinion that you have. It seems that your main interest is in conducting a flame war. I'm not interested though but thanks for playing. > > Do you have anything besides your opinions? > > A rap across the snout with a newspaper is not out of order. > > Marc A. Criley > Senior Staff Engineer > Quadrus Corporation > www.quadruscorp.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 17:11 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-21 14:10 ` Marc A. Criley 0 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-21 14:10 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy wrote: > > "Marc A. Criley" <mcqada@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<3B56D060.EF478F36@earthlink.net>... > > codesavvy wrote: > > > > > > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? Of course you ignore the > > > other question that pertains to the point I'm trying to make. > > > > Of course I ignored the questions to which I was not responding, I > > conscientiously chose to respond only to the..yes..bogus question you > > asked: > > I'm glad you're admitting that you are purposely distorting the intent > of what I wrote. What an odd way to interpret my response. :-) > It's not a bogus question when you answer it in the context of my > post. Many other people understood but you didn't. That's ok you > don't have to. Clarity of expression is the key to gaining information. You'll recall your original post: "I don't care if you think I'm trolling, I'm not. I think the answer is rather obvious, Ada has nothing to offer that is substantially better than what C++ offers. I've read posts in this news group that extoll Ada for it's many virtues but the truth of the matter is that they are overrated if they exist at all. Are there any statistics that state that Ada leads to more reliable, maintainable, or robust code than does C++? What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve that C++ can't?" You assert that: - The following assertions are rather obvious... - Ada has nothing to offer that is substantially better that what C++ offers. - The truth of the matter is that [Ada's virtues] are overrated if they exist at all. You then asked for statistics showing that Ada leads to more reliable, maintainable, or robust code than C++. (And actually, nowhere in your post is the term "productivity" used, the request for data is to support Ada's claim to producing higher quality code, of which productivity could be interpeted as being in the penumbra.) That's a fair question; however, your first set of assertions poisoned the well, establishing a hostile context. Your final question is then ambiguous. It could be _interpreted_ as asking what you claim: "What class(es) of programming problems does Ada solve _more productively than C++?_", but that's not what it says. Posters in this group taking this tone while making such assertions and demands typically have little experience with the industry segment where Ada plays a significant role (or in industry as a whole). This perception is subsequently buttressed by your glaringly false assertions that platform porting is very rarely done, and then continuing to maintain that assertion. You may not be a young inexperienced coder, but "if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck..." :-) Many such individuals do truly believe that there are problems that their favorite programming language can solve that another, such as Ada, can't. (I've met them on numerous occasions.) They need to be disabused of that notion. > So you make the final decision on what is appropriate and what is not. Moi? I think not. I've been here a long time, seeking to share knowledge, learn more, and aid the correction of the many fallacies that continue to envelop Ada--this is just a continuation of that effort. > I don't think that you've been appointed to such a position. As far > as metrics vs. "hard-earned" experience (a nebulous concept at best) I "Hard-earned" experience is a nebulous concept? Okay, how about just "experience". Participants in this group have architected, designed, and written Ada software for aircraft avionics (commercial and military), jet engines, the space station, weapon control systems, flight simulators, high-speed trains, robotics, missile flight controls, rocket engines, and for many other realms. I doubt any of us consider that experience "nebulous". > believe that one of the problems with the software development > community is that there is too much qualitative analysis and too > little quantitative analysis. Here I absolutely agree with you. When I see individuals lobbying to have a system that was implemented in Ada that came in on budget, on schedule--with excellent performance, reliability and maintainability metrics that could be directly associated with the use of Ada language features--discarded and be replaced with one coded in C++ because "that's where the market is going" (literal quote!), there's something very idiotic in this industry. > I haven't made any accusations that are > glaringly false nor have I made any bogus assertions. Well, yes, you have, actually. > As far as > compiler platform ports, you offer little evidence to support your > claim and thus it amounts to only an opinion that you have. A different post rebuts this. > It seems > that your main interest is in conducting a flame war. I'm not > interested though but thanks for playing. I've made no personal attacks, disparaged no one's experience as "only an opinion", have not intentionally misinterpreted or casually dismissed another's statements, nor asserted another's motivations or agendas. If I'm participating in a flame war, it's purely in a reactive manner. Marc A. Criley Senior Staff Engineer Quadrus Corporation www.quadruscorp.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 13:12 ` Marc A. Criley @ 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred 2001-07-19 16:58 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 18:29 ` Marin David Condic 2 siblings, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Leif Roar Moldskred @ 2001-07-19 14:12 UTC (permalink / raw) codesavvy <codesavvy@aol.com> wrote: > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? Umm, yes they are actually - unless you clearly define what metric "productivity" is to be measured by. Lines of code per hour? Average time to release? Total life-cycle cost? Man-hours needed to reach a certain level of quality? What level? Cost per line of code? What kind of projects should be measured? What weighting should be given to the various kinds of projects? If project A finishes in 2/3 of the time it takes project B to finish (with identical scores of the results), but the code of A is so shoddy that any major changes to it means a complete rewrite, whereas with code B you can just add a couple of modules and write some interface code - which project was the "most productive"? Questions about productivity that are as general as yours were, _are_ bogus. (And don't get me started about "synergy"). Leif Roar Moldskred professional lurker ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred @ 2001-07-19 16:58 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 18:29 ` Marin David Condic 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: codesavvy @ 2001-07-19 16:58 UTC (permalink / raw) Leif Roar Moldskred <rmoldskr@online.no> wrote in message news:<5VB57.119$%1.8915@news3.oke.nextra.no>... > codesavvy <codesavvy@aol.com> wrote: > > > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? > > Umm, yes they are actually - unless you clearly define what metric > "productivity" is to be measured by. Lines of code per hour? Average > time to release? Total life-cycle cost? Man-hours needed to reach a > certain level of quality? What level? Cost per line of code? What kind > of projects should be measured? What weighting should be given to the > various kinds of projects? > Which ones does management feel are important? > If project A finishes in 2/3 of the time it takes project B to finish > (with identical scores of the results), but the code of A is so shoddy > that any major changes to it means a complete rewrite, whereas with > code B you can just add a couple of modules and write some interface > code - which project was the "most productive"? > In several posts I have stated that agreeing on a productivity metric would be helpful. So what? > Questions about productivity that are as general as yours were, _are_ > bogus. (And don't get me started about "synergy"). > > No they're not especially if you are trying to convince management that one language is preferable to another. > Leif Roar Moldskred > professional lurker ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred 2001-07-19 16:58 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-19 18:29 ` Marin David Condic 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 18:29 UTC (permalink / raw) There are no accepted standard measures of productivity in the software business. If we were talking concrete sidewalks, we could stipulate dimensions and industry accepted construction materials and measures of quality, then start laying sidewalk and measuring time. (Or dollars. Same thing) The problem is that software almost *never* attacks an identical problem twice and even among similar projects, you almost *never* do it with an identical set of tools. Hence you can't control all the variables going in, so you can't attribute any perceived changes as being due to the language (or some other single variable of study.) Its a really intractable problem. If we at least had some quantifiable measure of units of work and some quantifiable measure of quality, we might stand a chance of counting hours or dollars in. But I defy anybody to stipulate some units of work and some units of quality that isn't going to start a firestorm here with arguments all over the place about why the metrics picked miss some critical factors that change the whole game. I know - I've been there and done that. :-) 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/ "Leif Roar Moldskred" <rmoldskr@online.no> wrote in message news:5VB57.119$%1.8915@news3.oke.nextra.no... > codesavvy <codesavvy@aol.com> wrote: > > > Questions regarding productiviy are bogus? > > Umm, yes they are actually - unless you clearly define what metric > "productivity" is to be measured by. Lines of code per hour? Average > time to release? Total life-cycle cost? Man-hours needed to reach a > certain level of quality? What level? Cost per line of code? What kind > of projects should be measured? What weighting should be given to the > various kinds of projects? > > If project A finishes in 2/3 of the time it takes project B to finish > (with identical scores of the results), but the code of A is so shoddy > that any major changes to it means a complete rewrite, whereas with > code B you can just add a couple of modules and write some interface > code - which project was the "most productive"? > > Questions about productivity that are as general as yours were, _are_ > bogus. (And don't get me started about "synergy"). > > > Leif Roar Moldskred > professional lurker ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-18 8:43 Ada The Best Language? Vinzent Hoefler 2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring 2001-07-18 14:06 ` codesavvy @ 2001-07-19 17:11 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 18:33 ` Marin David Condic 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 17:11 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <3B59EE1C@MailAndNews.com>, Vinzent Hoefler wrote: >>What class(es) of programming problems does Ada >>solve that C++ can't? > > What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? Portable programming. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 17:11 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 18:33 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 0 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 18:33 UTC (permalink / raw) You mean like when I write a program with MSVC++ on a Windows platform and it just moves seamlessly over to a Sun/Unix platform and compiles without any changes with the GNU compiler? (This whole thread has *got* to be a cleverly contrived troll. Can you believe the explosion of responses? Its almost like insulting someone's wife, religion or pickup truck... Iresistable bait!) 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/ "Tomasz Wegrzanowski" <taw@pb220.legnica.sdi.tpnet.pl> wrote in message news:9j74bj$lmp$8@news.tpi.pl... > In article <3B59EE1C@MailAndNews.com>, Vinzent Hoefler wrote: > >>What class(es) of programming problems does Ada > >>solve that C++ can't? > > > > What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? > > Portable programming. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 18:33 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 21:01 ` Darren New ` (2 more replies) 0 siblings, 3 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 20:49 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <9j796h$b2t$1@nh.pace.co.uk>, Marin David Condic wrote: >> > What programming problems does C++ solve that Assembly language can't? >> >> Portable programming. > You mean like when I write a program with MSVC++ on a Windows platform and > it just moves seamlessly over to a Sun/Unix platform and compiles without > any changes with the GNU compiler? I don't care about MSVC++. MS is known for making things unportable, embrace'n'extend is their `bussiness strategy'. If it ports among Unices, it's portable. Assembler certainly doesn't. > (This whole thread has *got* to be a cleverly contrived troll. Can you > believe the explosion of responses? Its almost like insulting someone's > wife, religion or pickup truck... Iresistable bait!) You know, it's Usenet. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 21:01 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 21:20 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Larry Kilgallen 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Darren New @ 2001-07-19 21:01 UTC (permalink / raw) > If it ports among Unices, it's portable. That's why GNU has such nice tools like autoconf. A program that analyzes your C, and generates a second program that analyzes your Unix and patches your C code to work with that particular brand of unix. Uh huh. -- Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 21:01 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-19 21:20 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Larry Kilgallen 2 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 21:20 UTC (permalink / raw) That's an interesting definition of "portable". There's ***UNIX***!!! and there's a handful of insignificant, unimportant, irrelavent "others". Would you think it at all important that code be able to port to the millions of "other" machines out there that run non-Unix OS's, like OS/2, MVS, VMS, MacOS, and (dare I say it?) Windows? I'd bet that there are more non-Unix platforms (taken as a sum) than there are Unix platforms - or at least it would be a really big number to be ignoring. It would be like us VMS bigots saying "Yea, my software runs on *both* kinds of computers - VAXs *and* Alphas." (Not much of a challenge, is it? :-) True portability is, of course, extremely hard to achieve. But defining the problem out of existence doesn't seem fair. 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/ "Tomasz Wegrzanowski" <taw@pb220.legnica.sdi.tpnet.pl> wrote in message news:9j7h4l$lpr$1@news.tpi.pl... > > If it ports among Unices, it's portable. > Assembler certainly doesn't. > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 21:20 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New 2001-07-25 9:01 ` Colin Paul Gloster 0 siblings, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 22:31 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <9j7iug$eb2$1@nh.pace.co.uk>, Marin David Condic wrote: > That's an interesting definition of "portable". There's ***UNIX***!!! and > there's a handful of insignificant, unimportant, irrelavent "others". Would > you think it at all important that code be able to port to the millions of > "other" machines out there that run non-Unix OS's, like OS/2, MVS, VMS, > MacOS, and (dare I say it?) Windows? I'd bet that there are more non-Unix > platforms (taken as a sum) than there are Unix platforms - or at least it > would be a really big number to be ignoring. It would be like us VMS bigots > saying "Yea, my software runs on *both* kinds of computers - VAXs *and* > Alphas." (Not much of a challenge, is it? :-) > > True portability is, of course, extremely hard to achieve. But defining the > problem out of existence doesn't seem fair. Microsoft breaks compatibility on purpose. If there were MSAda, you couldn't just recompile MSAda programs on other Ada compiler. Java wars just confirmed it. Unices are the only family of OSes that have real standards, followed by many OSes. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 23:36 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-25 9:01 ` Colin Paul Gloster 1 sibling, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Darren New @ 2001-07-19 23:04 UTC (permalink / raw) > If there were MSAda, you couldn't just recompile MSAda programs on > other Ada compiler. Does Ada still have the advantage of being trademarked here, so you can't call something Ada if it's not compatible? > Java wars just confirmed it. Funky, considering many found MS's Java to actually match more standards than Sun's. > Unices are the only family of OSes that have real standards, > followed by many OSes. And of course, the fact that I can run the same executable on DOS, Win3.1, Win98, WinNT, and Win2000 means nothing either. Sure. -- Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-19 23:36 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-19 23:36 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <3B57676A.AB47237B@san.rr.com>, Darren New wrote: >> If there were MSAda, you couldn't just recompile MSAda programs on >> other Ada compiler. > > Does Ada still have the advantage of being trademarked here, so you > can't call something Ada if it's not compatible? So they'll call it A#. Who cares about trademarks. >> Unices are the only family of OSes that have real standards, >> followed by many OSes. > > And of course, the fact that I can run the same executable on DOS, > Win3.1, Win98, WinNT, and Win2000 means nothing either. Sure. You can ? Chances of running DOS executable on Win98 are no bigger than of running Win98 executable on Linux. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 23:36 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski @ 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-20 17:51 ` Darren New 2001-07-20 17:54 ` Marin David Condic 1 sibling, 2 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-20 16:14 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <3B57676A.AB47237B@san.rr.com>, Darren New says... > >And of course, the fact that I can run the same executable on DOS, >Win3.1, Win98, WinNT, and Win2000 means nothing either. Sure. Actually, that's rarely the case. I think Win3.1 has a different exe format than the rest. Even the Win32 OS'es have quite a few library differences between them. If there are examples of this, they must be pretty simple programs. Certianly none of the 50 or so PC games I own have this capability. I do have a few that would work (on some platforms better than others) if you threw out Win3.1 though. --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-20 17:51 ` Darren New 2001-07-20 17:54 ` Marin David Condic 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Darren New @ 2001-07-20 17:51 UTC (permalink / raw) Ted Dennison wrote: > > In article <3B57676A.AB47237B@san.rr.com>, Darren New says... > > > >And of course, the fact that I can run the same executable on DOS, > >Win3.1, Win98, WinNT, and Win2000 means nothing either. Sure. > > Actually, that's rarely the case. I think Win3.1 has a different exe format than > the rest. Even the Win32 OS'es have quite a few library differences between > them. If there are examples of this, they must be pretty simple programs. They have simple requirements. For example, I've been using the same jpeg compression routines since before Win3.1 was available. (Before it was available to me, at least. It might have been out there somewhere.) Read a file, write a file kind of stuff. Anything that does stdio.h type stuff works fine. > Certianly none of the 50 or so PC games I own have this capability. Games kind of tend to push the edge on what's legal programming and such, and they tend not to worry about whether they'll still run without changes in 5 years. I'd bet, however, that a PC game for Win3.1 is more likely to run under Win98 without recompiling than a UNIX game for Linux is likely to run under HP/UX or Solaris without recompiling. :-) -- Darren New / Senior MTS & Free Radical / Invisible Worlds Inc. San Diego, CA, USA (PST). Cryptokeys on demand. Only a WIMP puts wallpaper on his desktop. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-20 17:51 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-20 17:54 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-20 20:16 ` Ted Dennison 1 sibling, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread From: Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-20 17:54 UTC (permalink / raw) Well, to be comparing apples to apples - can you take an EXE compiled on Sun/Unix and run it on PC/Linux and have it work? That appears to be the test standard for portability between the various versions of Windows, right? Or in the other direction, how portable is an MS/DOS program written in (pick your language) if you compile it under WindowsNT with the appropriate compiler? 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/ "Ted Dennison" <dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message news:YNY57.984$ar1.4346@www.newsranger.com... > > Actually, that's rarely the case. I think Win3.1 has a different exe format than > the rest. Even the Win32 OS'es have quite a few library differences between > them. If there are examples of this, they must be pretty simple programs. > Certianly none of the 50 or so PC games I own have this capability. I do have a > few that would work (on some platforms better than others) if you threw out > Win3.1 though. > > --- > T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html > home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-20 17:54 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-20 20:16 ` Ted Dennison 0 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-20 20:16 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <9j9r8m$aqk$1@nh.pace.co.uk>, Marin David Condic says... > >Well, to be comparing apples to apples - can you take an EXE compiled on >Sun/Unix and run it on PC/Linux and have it work? That appears to be the >test standard for portability between the various versions of Windows, >right? A better comparison would probably be if you can get them to work *after* recompiling (but without modifying sources). I'd say the Win9x and WinNT families are about as compatable in this respect as different flavors of Unix are. Simple stuff will work fine, but if you try anything sexy with deep system calls, there are going to be differences. Large Windows apps often end up having some code that checks for the OS, and does different things depending on the answer. For example, getting a list of running processes uses completely different mechanisms in NT/2k than in 9x. >Or in the other direction, how portable is an MS/DOS program written in >(pick your language) if you compile it under WindowsNT with the appropriate >compiler? If its a game, not a chance. I know I'm harping on games, but that's really what PC's are built for. (Why else would we all need realtime 3D sound and graphics at consumer prices?) If you are using a wintel PC for something else, you are really just along for the ride. :-) --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New @ 2001-07-25 9:01 ` Colin Paul Gloster 1 sibling, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Colin Paul Gloster @ 2001-07-25 9:01 UTC (permalink / raw) Tomasz Wegrzanowski wrote: "[..] If it ports among Unices, it's portable. [..]" and "[..] Unices are the only family of OSes that have real standards, followed by many OSes." There used not be Unices. There was the one UNIX. AT&T let vendors change the source code for their distributions and there were Unices. You are wrong on this about portability: the family you mention is a group of near identikit OSes which for portability now need recompiling (instead of being binary compatible, when on same processor, as the earlier incarnation as a single OS). ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 21:01 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 21:20 ` Marin David Condic @ 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Larry Kilgallen 2 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Larry Kilgallen @ 2001-07-19 22:31 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <9j7h4l$lpr$1@news.tpi.pl>, taw@pb220.legnica.sdi.tpnet.pl (Tomasz Wegrzanowski) writes: > If it ports among Unices, it's portable. And every problem looks like a nail. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* RE: Ada The Best Language?
@ 2001-07-19 11:34 Vinzent Hoefler
2001-07-19 17:28 ` Ted Dennison
0 siblings, 1 reply; 42+ messages in thread
From: Vinzent Hoefler @ 2001-07-19 11:34 UTC (permalink / raw)
Original Message From Alfred Hilscher <Alfred.Hilscher@icn.siemens.de>
>What is the superior feature that justifies the creation of C++ at
>a time where Ada were already long available ?
Kind of backwards compatibility, I guess. It looks like C.
Vinzent.
^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
* Re: RE: Ada The Best Language? 2001-07-19 11:34 Vinzent Hoefler @ 2001-07-19 17:28 ` Ted Dennison 0 siblings, 0 replies; 42+ messages in thread From: Ted Dennison @ 2001-07-19 17:28 UTC (permalink / raw) In article <3B5FDFA0@MailAndNews.com>, Vinzent Hoefler says... > >Original Message From Alfred Hilscher <Alfred.Hilscher@icn.siemens.de> > >>What is the superior feature that justifies the creation of C++ at >>a time where Ada were already long available ? > >Kind of backwards compatibility, I guess. It looks like C. That's close. I believe the original reason was an attempt to drag C coders kicking and screaming into the modern era. So they created an OO language that used C syntax, still understood some C sources, and precompiled down to C (originally). For the most part, I'd say its been successful. The general public does seem to slowly be getting weaned from those crappy old software practices they used to love. You don't hear much serious argument *against* strong typing anymore, like you used to 5 years ago. All the well-reasoned design decisions of Ada are being slowly accepted, and these days the firmest ground a troll can find to stand on is roughly "yeah, Ada's good, but C++ is nearly there". It would still have been beter if someone could somehow have made all those C coders go "cold turkey" and use something better founded, like Ada. But the DoD actually tried to do that, and failed. The most workable poicly is probably just to chip them off slowly. --- T.E.D. homepage - http://www.telepath.com/dennison/Ted/TED.html home email - mailto:dennison@telepath.com ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 42+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2001-07-27 11:29 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 42+ messages (download: mbox.gz / follow: Atom feed) -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2001-07-18 8:43 Ada The Best Language? Vinzent Hoefler 2001-07-18 9:22 ` Gerhard Häring 2001-07-18 8:58 ` Lutz Donnerhacke 2001-07-18 14:06 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 15:27 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-18 20:31 ` codesavvy 2001-07-18 21:29 ` Darren New 2001-07-18 21:56 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 3:37 ` Larry Hazel 2001-07-19 18:19 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-21 15:33 ` Mark Lundquist 2001-07-23 13:50 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-24 4:52 ` Robert C. Leif, Ph.D. 2001-07-24 6:47 ` tmoran 2001-07-24 11:47 ` Larry Kilgallen 2001-07-24 14:10 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-27 11:29 ` Jacob Sparre Andersen 2001-07-19 21:47 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 2:51 ` DuckE 2001-07-21 3:46 ` Darren New 2001-07-26 1:39 ` Lao Xiao Hai 2001-07-19 13:12 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-19 17:11 ` codesavvy 2001-07-21 14:10 ` Marc A. Criley 2001-07-19 14:12 ` Leif Roar Moldskred 2001-07-19 16:58 ` codesavvy 2001-07-19 18:29 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 17:11 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 18:33 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 20:49 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 21:01 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 21:20 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-19 23:04 ` Darren New 2001-07-19 23:36 ` Tomasz Wegrzanowski 2001-07-20 16:14 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-20 17:51 ` Darren New 2001-07-20 17:54 ` Marin David Condic 2001-07-20 20:16 ` Ted Dennison 2001-07-25 9:01 ` Colin Paul Gloster 2001-07-19 22:31 ` Larry Kilgallen -- strict thread matches above, loose matches on Subject: below -- 2001-07-19 11:34 Vinzent Hoefler 2001-07-19 17:28 ` Ted Dennison
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