Re: "That's the way the market is going"

[Richard Riehle <rriehle@nunic.nu.edu>]

On Tue, 15 Apr 1997, Marc A. Criley wrote:

> Advocates of dropping Ada and moving to C++ often cite "That's the way the
> market is going" as sufficient reason to do so, at least where I'm working.
> How does one effectively rebut that?  These individuals concede the technical
> superiority of Ada, and that there are life cycle benefits to Ada, especially
> on weapon control systems, i.e., warfighting systems.  Yet, because the market
> is going to C++, that is sufficient cause for us to now do the same.

  I attend a few computer conferences each year.  Recently, I hear more
  and more grumbling about the vagaries of C++.  The growing discontent
  with C++ is one reason for the rush to Java.  

  Those in the warfighting software business who believe they can do
  better with C++ simply do not understand C++.  Usually they are more
  swayed by the seeming popularity of C++ rather than by its technical
  merits.  

  The one good argument in favor of C++ is the availability of development
  and debugging tools for the language.  Software publishers see the
  popularity of the language so that is where they put their own
  development dollars.  However, even this is misleading.  C++ is
  the peanut brittle of programming languages, and just as peanut
  brittle tastes sweet but rots your teeth, so does C++ feel good, but
  introduces future decay into your software. For that reason, most of
  the tools for C++ are designed to prevent "tooth decay" from 
  run-away pointers, etc.  A smaller number are specifically designed
  to assist the software engineering process.

  C++ also looks good on the resume.  Managers of weapons development need
  to be vigilant about such things.  The mission is to produce the most
  effective warfighting software in the world, not to satisfy someone's
  need to spruce-up their resume.  So far, no language surpasses Ada in
  fulfilling that mission.  And C++ does not come close.

  Richard Riehle


       Ada!  When failure is not an option.