From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.5-pre1 (2020-06-20) on ip-172-31-74-118.ec2.internal X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=3.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.5-pre1 Date: 14 Sep 92 16:40:32 GMT From: pacbell.com!att-out!walter!obry@ames.arc.nasa.gov (Pascal Obry) Subject: Re: Ada's (in)visibility in the engineering community Message-ID: List-Id: I like very much Ada. And I tried to convince in 2 differents researh center to use it, but I failled ... Why ? because they don't want to learn a new language, because they don't or can't afford an Ada compiler, because they don't see any reason to buy an (expensive) Ada compiler whereas they have a free C compiler in any of their computer, here GNAT will do something very good. because they think Ada is a too complex language and too big. Here they make the big mistake to mix up language and compiler. My point is that it is not because the compiler is hard to make that the language is difficult. And in this case to make a compiler is difficult because the language is *powerfull* not because it is complex to use .. because they don't like to think a lot about the conception of their projects. they want to make it without conception (OO or others ...) and C for this is very good because you can do every thing you want, there is alway (a bad) way to reach your goal. because they didn't know Ada at all so they chose C++ (yes, they think it's the good old C plus something so it should be good too ... bad mistake no !) ------------------------ Also all these guys sometime use a kind of *meta* language to describe an algorithm ... And you know what : this meta language is something very close from Ada ... So I tried and I failled ... But I can't even understand why !! They have no good reasons to don't use Ada, they have no good reason to choose C++ but they chose it ... ------------------------- I learn Ada by myself. I like very much to learn and compare different languages, today I know C, C++, Eiffel, Ada, (plus a lot of other languages like Basic, Fortran, Cobol). But after all, I definitly like very much Ada ... Like Edmond Schonberg said in is comparison Ada 9x and C++ : " Although the C++ community would never state it so baldly, it appears clear to us that C++ is to some extent a reaction to Ada. By extending C with some of the best ideas of Ada, C++ did in some measure catch up to Ada " I would like to add that I know some guys that didn't like Ada and its strong typing and the nested procedures, but now they enjoy this into C++. So why waiting for C++ V3.9 beta version alpha testing 3.4 ... Use Ada rigth now, it's a normed and validated language with all these features and a lot of more ... Pascal. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Pascal OBRY -- -- Room 2D-337 e_mail : obry@bellcore.com -- -- Bellcore -- -- 445 South Street voice : 1 - 201 829 4039 -- -- Post Office Box 1910 -- -- Morristown, New Jersey 07962-1910 -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- `` inheritance is surely a good answer, but who knows the question ? ''