Re: Ada and Mesa

[jsa@organon.com (Jon S Anthony)]

In article <DsuqM2.IBK@news.cern.ch> berlichr@afal30 (Ruediger Berlich) writes:

> I think about migrating from C/C++ to Ada. I've been looking for a 
> language, that meets a couple of demands, thereby preserving the power
> of C++.                                           ^^^^^^^^^^
> On my wish-list are :
> - The language should be standardised

No need to worry about preserving this since C++ isn't standardized!!
Even so, Ada95 _is_ (ISO/IEC 8652:1995)

> - There should be threads 

No need to worry about preserving this since C++ has _NO_ threads!!
Even so, Ada95 certainly does.

> - Object-oriented programming

Yes, Ada is fully OO.


> - Portability 

About as portable as you could reasonably expect.  Really.  If you are
the least bit careful about platform issues, it will port _much_
easier than C (that supposed paragon of portability - NOT!)


> - Libraries for graphics-programming available.

Well, X/Motif, Win32 are available (freely).  You can also go the
route of AdaMagic - the Ada compiler for JavaVM.

See these resources:

-- X11/Motif
--
http://www.inmet.com/~mg/x11ada/x11ada.html

-- Win32
--
http://sw-eng.falls-church.va.us/AdaIC/source-code/bindings/win32ada/win32ada.html

-- Tcl/TK
--
http://www.ocsystems.com/xada/tash

-- Java
--
http://www.inmet.com



> O.k., Ada9x seems to fit the first three requirements.

Ada95 for the last year.


> I don't know about the fourth point. As far as I can see, there is only
> GNAT, which is available on a majority of platforms. As it is under the 
> GPL, I am not sure, whether I can develop commercial programs with it.

1. There are other compilers available.  Several.  For example,
Thomson's ObjectAda (complete with IDE, GUI builder, etc.) and
Rational's.

2. Gnat is definitely usable for commercial software development - 
no restrictions or licensing problems at all.  We currently are
using it for this.  And it is definitely ready for "industrial
strength" applications.


> I would be glad, if someone who develops commercial programs with GNAT,
> could send me his/her experiences concerning the GPL.

No need.  No problem.  This was discussed to death here about a year
ago.


> The fifth point : I couldn't find any hint that there do exist
> bindings from Ada9x to e.g. X11. I have an Ada-Tutorial from some
> WWW-server, which explains Ada9x for C/C++-programmers. It says
> something about the possibility tolink with existing
> C/C++/Fortran-object-files.  So does this mean, it is possible to
> call e.g. xlib or xtoolkit-functions from Ada, just as you would

Yes.  Certainly.  I do so all the time.


> from Frotran for example ?

Easier.


>  Is it possible to use the Mesa-library
> or other OpenGL-packages ?  Thanks for any hint.

Just goes to show, I don't know everything! :-)  Really, I don't
know about these two (though I think the latter has been mentioned
as available...)


/Jon

> Please reply via mail to
> berlich@pc66.mppmu.mpg.de]
> 
> Bye and have a nice day,
> Ruediger
> 
-- 
Jon Anthony
Organon Motives, Inc.
1 Williston Road, Suite 4
Belmont, MA 02178

617.484.3383
jsa@organon.com