[ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[Gerhard Häring]

I am glad that I can finally announce a first version of pyAda. As the
name implies, it's an Ada 95 binding to the Python interpreter. With
pyAda, you can write Python extensions in Ada 95, and, much more
important, you can also embed a Python interpreter in your Ada
applications. The current release is far from finished, but the thin
binding works already quite well for me. The thin binding is a
one-to-one mapping of the Python -> C interface.

website:  http://pyada.sourceforge.net
release:  http://download.sourceforge.net/pyada/pyAda-2001-03-01.tar.gz
docs:     included in release

pyAda currently works for me under (SuSE 7.1) Linux and FreeBSD (4.2).
It used to work on win32, too, but currently doesn't. That's to be fixed
in the next release. Porting to other Unixen should be fairly
straightforward.

pyAda currently depends on GNU make, GNAT 3.13p and Python 2.0 (and
DocBook SGML for doc creation).

The license is a BSD variant.

Future plans include bugfixes, code cleanup, and development of a thick
binding that renders manual reference counting obsolete. And more ports.

Gerhard

PS: This is my first major Ada project, so I am open to any suggestions
for improvement.
-- 
Sorry for the fake email, please use the real one below to reply.
contact: g e r h a r d @ b i g f o o t . d e
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Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[Brad Clements]

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I thought one of the big points of using Ada was its verifiability -- making
it more suitable for complex, "large-scale" (i.e, expensive) projects, like
missile defense.

Plugging in a "non-verifiable" script plug-in kinda defeats this purpose..
doesn't it?


--
Brad Clements,
bkc@murkworks.com
"Gerhard H�ring" <gerhard.nospam@bigfoot.de> wrote in message
news:3A9DB9E1.8DD0E36D@bigfoot.de...

> PS: This is my first major Ada project, so I am open to any suggestions
> for improvement.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[John English]

Brad Clements wrote:
> 
> I thought one of the big points of using Ada was its verifiability -- making
> it more suitable for complex, "large-scale" (i.e, expensive) projects, like
> missile defense.
> 
> Plugging in a "non-verifiable" script plug-in kinda defeats this purpose..
> doesn't it?

You're asking for a pure Ada implementation of Python, then. Even
without this, being able to embed a Python (or Tcl) interpreter
into an existing system can be very useful, as it lets you provide
the system with a macro language as part of the user interface...

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Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[David Starner]

On Thu, 01 Mar 2001 14:21:11 +0000, John English <je@bton.ac.uk> wrote:
>Brad Clements wrote:
>> 
>> Plugging in a "non-verifiable" script plug-in kinda defeats this purpose..
>> doesn't it?
>
>You're asking for a pure Ada implementation of Python, then. 

What's the point of being theoritically verifiable if you can't actually
do it? If I'm not mistaken, Python is large enough to make verification
of even an Ada or SPARK version unfeasible. 

In any case, I can't think of where you would have a verified system
that you would want to give the users the ability to execute arbitrary
code on. A Python script plug-in is nice for things like the Gimp, or
a spreadsheet, or a word-processor; stuff where the worst case scenario
is annoyance, not anything that would get verified.

-- 
David Starner - dstarner98@aasaa.ofe.org
Pointless website: http://dvdeug.dhis.org
"I don't care if Bill personally has my name and reads my email and 
laughs at me. In fact, I'd be rather honored." - Joseph_Greg

Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <Xvsn6.7$R4.940@news.clarkson.edu>, "Brad Clements" <bkc@Murkworks.com> writes:
> I thought one of the big points of using Ada was its verifiability -- making
> it more suitable for complex, "large-scale" (i.e, expensive) projects, like
> missile defense.
> 
> Plugging in a "non-verifiable" script plug-in kinda defeats this purpose..
> doesn't it?

Indeed that is "one of the big points of using Ada", but there is no
rule preventing people form using Ada for other purposes too, and many
of us do so.

While Ada has many capabilities, one does not have to use them all in
every program.  I believe that in 13 years of using Ada I have never
used floating point.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[Charles Hixson]

Brad Clements wrote:

> I thought one of the big points of using Ada was its verifiability --
> making it more suitable for complex, "large-scale" (i.e, expensive)
> projects, like missile defense.
>...
> 
That sure is one of the big points.  I never expect to use that feature 
though.  To me the benefit is that some things are easier in Python and 
others are easier in Ada.  Ada code runs a lot faster than Python code.  
And I truly dislike C's loose manner with type casts.  (The pointers are 
also a real nuisance ... I prefer to use safe arrays.  Etc.

Re: [ANNOUNCE] pyAda, first public release

[Terry Westley]

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Gerhard H�ring <gerhard.nospam@bigfoot.de> wrote in message
news:3A9DB9E1.8DD0E36D@bigfoot.de...
> I am glad that I can finally announce a first version of pyAda. As the
> name implies, it's an Ada 95 binding to the Python interpreter. With
> pyAda, you can write Python extensions in Ada 95, and, much more
> important, you can also embed a Python interpreter in your Ada
> applications. The current release is far from finished, but the thin
> binding works already quite well for me. The thin binding is a
> one-to-one mapping of the Python -> C interface.
>
> website:  http://pyada.sourceforge.net
> release:  http://download.sourceforge.net/pyada/pyAda-2001-03-01.tar.gz
> docs:     included in release

Congratulations.  Certainly Python is getting a lot of attention and
to have an Ada binding is great.

If/when you want to create a thick binding, take a look at the latest
version of TASH and its thick binding for some ideas.  You can
either download and try it from http://www.adatcl.com or read the
thick binding tutorial that I've started on the mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tash.

P.S. Thanks for the reference in your Comparison page to TASH!

--
Terry Westley
Veridian Engineering
twestley@buffalo.veridian.com