Is Ada Any Good for Windows?

Is Ada Any Good for Windows?

[Al Christians]

There has been some discussion lately of bindings to enable Windows(32)
programming from Ada, and of what Ada is used for.  I should like to
combine these and ask, is Ada any good for Windows GUI programming?

In particular, are there any toolsets now or RSN that make developing a
snazzy Windows GUI as quick and easy as it is with some of the RAD tools
like Visual Age this'n'that, Optima++, Delphi, and Whatnot?  Should I
figure that if I use Ada for my industrial-strength, very-long-lifecycle
projects, should I also use other languages for cost-effective quicky
projects?  If not, what Ada tools fit this bill?

In particular:  1. Is there a low-cost or free version of Adasage that
can includes a decent GUI maker for Windows 32?  2. Is there anything
like that coming with the next release or two of GNAT?  3. How do the
Thomson products for Ada under Windows stack up against the competitive
packages for other languages for doing quick and easy UI's?

Al

Re: Is Ada Any Good for Windows?

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <3265CA04.521A@easystreet.com>, Al Christians <achrist@EASYSTREET.COM> writes:
> There has been some discussion lately of bindings to enable Windows(32)
> programming from Ada, and of what Ada is used for.  I should like to
> combine these and ask, is Ada any good for Windows GUI programming?

I believe it is better than not using Ada. I believe it is worse than
not having to do Windows GUI programming in the first place :-).

>                                                         3. How do the
> Thomson products for Ada under Windows stack up against the competitive
> packages for other languages for doing quick and easy UI's?

Basic layout of windows and placement of objects seems to work well,
although with somewhat fewer graphic object types included than Delphi
or Visual Basic provide.  On the other hand, the base capability of the
GUI generator seems well matched to those features generally available
across all environments (Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT),
which is important to me. I do not (yet) have the add on option
which should make MFC versions of some additional objects available
for hand-coding.  For all I know there is some other way to do MFC,
but at the Thomson price scale for this product set, I find it easier
to buy from them than to seek other sources.

Caveat: I have no inclination to go drawing my own vectors on the screen,
but given your qualification of "quick and easy UI's", I presume you do
not have such an inclination either.

Larry Kilgallen

Re: Is Ada Any Good for Windows?

[Richard Riehle]

There are a lot of efforts to develop Ada compilers and
tools to support windows.  ObjectAda from  Thomson (Aion
pretty soon) Software is a good candidate. 

Another, soon to be available tool is "CLAW" from RR Software
in Madison, Wisconsin.  CLAW is a thick binding in which the
packages are designed to look like Ada, and it requires no
knowledge of C++ or other languages -- just good old-fashioned
Ada 95. It will work with GNAT, the DDC-I NT compiler, ObjectAda,
and any other Windows 95 or Windows NT compiler. Oh, and yes,
it also works with RR Software's Ada 95 compiler.  CLAW should
work with any Windows 95 or Windows NT Ada compiler.

You can use to draw dialog boxes, message boxes, list boxes, and
all the other kinds of objects one expects to create and manage
when developing for Windows.  

RR Software is located in Madison, Wisconsin. I don't have their
phone number handy since I am away from my office this week, but
it should be available from AdaIC or through information.

Richard Riehle