Re: Is Ada likely to survive ?

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

In article <33D416AA.4622C3C8@kaiwan.com> safetran <safetran@kaiwan.com> writes:

> >Stanley Allen writes:
> >Worries #1 and #3 would also be facing you if you choose C++ or Java.
> 
> I would not be worried about C++ that much. Considering the volume of
> C++ code produced and the number of programmers of C++  its going to be
> around for quite a while.

I think he was referring to compiler _companies_.  You have no
guarantee that these companies will not fold and take their compilers
with them.


> >As to (3), whether your code is maintainable or not depends on whether it
> >is maintainable code.
> 
> I was not very clear here : yes Ada is very maintainable but if (in 10
> years) you can't find programmers who know the language then it does not
> really matter how maintainable the language is.

This is not going to be a problem.  IMO, the situation is going to get
better.


> Its just that if you hire someone and he has to learn a new language -
> well that is additional cost vs hiring someone who already knows it.

Yes, it is easy to hire a C/C++/Java 1 day wonder.  And cheaply too.
Someone who was flipping burgers a week before, got C/C++/Java for
dummies or C/C++/Java in 5 days and is, voila', now a programmer who
"knows" it.


> Brian Rogoff writes:
> >How many languages *haven't* survived? Cobol, Fortran, C, PL/1, and REXX
> >are still thriving. There is even a company selling Algol 68 compilers.
> 
> My question was not survival as just survival - but more will Ada become
> a bit more mainstream or at least stay as "mainstream" as it is today. 
> I agree with you that all these languages have survived but how
> mainstream are they  compared to (say) C/C++.

How mainstream is C/C++ compared to (say) VB??  Or Excel macro
language??  Not very.  Yes this is a fatuous comparison - just like
yours.


> Yes you are correct.  However a lot of safety critical systems are
> being done in C/C++.

And it wouldn't surprise me that "a lot" are being done in VB.  I know
for a fact that some are done in Excel.


>  A lot of medical electronics company's, the car industry, rail-road
> industry etc etc do their safety critical systems in C

Actually, the car industry still uses a lot of assembly.  GM used/uses
an offshoot of M2.  It wouldn't surprise me, but I don't know of C
actually being used in by the auto makers in this sort of area.


> Please do not mis-understand - I am not endorsing any of the above or
> saying it is good practice. Just that this is how things are. 

Here's my take: If you want to use Ada - use it.  Don't worry about
whether it's going "to be around" or something.  That's not an issue.
If you don't want to use it, don't.

/Jon

-- 
Jon Anthony
OMI, Belmont, MA 02178
617.484.3383
"Nightmares - Ha!  The way my life's been going lately,
 Who'd notice?"  -- Londo Mollari