Re: ada software reuse

[srctran@world.std.com (Gregory Aharonian)]

>Can anyone please explain how ADA supports the concept of software reuse,
>including how ada supports this concept.

    Given that the largest amounts of source code being reused by language
is in the following order (demographics for the entire planet):
		Cobol
		C/C++
		Fortran
		Ada
		Pascal
		Lisp

    I argue that as long as a language has the basic features of a decent
syntax, modularity, and tools/syntax for argument checking, requirements
that most languages meet, then the language will support reuse.  And given
the success of "primitive" languages in supporting reuse, the structure of
a language itself is a marginal factor in promoting/discouraging reuse.

     As I have long argued to myself it seems, and completely contrary to
current DoD policy, the success or failure of a software reuse effort depends
greatly on social and economic factors such as acquistion regulations,
programmer incentives, software library construction and marketing, licensing,
information distribution technology utlization (like the Internet) and
other topics that make or break successful software reuse in other languages.

     For example, despite having the most extensive records of the location
of reusable defense software in the country and measures of the flows of these
programs, I cannot get any support from the DoD to perform studies of what
I know as it impacts the non-technical aspects of defense software reuse.
The DoD just doesn't care.  On the other hand, a company in Florida got DoD
funding to do a study to measure Ada reusability of source code by measuring
the indenting depth of Ada modules (an extreme technical approach whose total
syntactic basis makes it useless for the more important semantic aspects of
reuse).

    Thus with regards to Ada, the language itself does little to promote or
discourage reuse.  Unfortunately for Ada, the government policies involving
it are such that Ada reuse will never amount to much.

    And to illustrate how screwed up software reuse is in the Defense 
community, I will tell you a little story.  Recently a group of engineers
at a local defense contractor was looking for some data fusion software
for a million dollar project they were doing for the DoD.  While they had
sources inside the company, I offered to visit their facilities and make
a presentation of sources of sensor fusion software they could acquire and
reuse.  I figure I could have saved them about $40,000, since I have great
sources for this kind of software.
     Anyways, they seemed interested, and asked their managers if they
could arrange for me to make a presentation.  Their managers said NO, for
one reason - there was no charge number for them to charge spending a hour
listening to me talk about software reuse for their project.  It's bad
enough that defense regulations make it almost impossible for me to sell
reusable defense software to defense contractors, but to not even be able
to get into the front door to make a pitch because there are NO charge
numbers is lunacy.

    Meanwhile the DoD is funding four software reuse centers and two software
reuse working groups who no one evers hear from, who don't talk to anyone
but each other, and are staffed by people with no prior experience in 
running software reuse businesses.  They are so apathetic to their jobs they
haven't even contacted me to try and incorporate my extensive records of
defense software into their databases.

    I got into Ada reuse because I thought, of all of the languages available
for reuse, Ada has the most going for it, and I still believe this to be true.
Unfortunately, never has a language been assoicated with so many fucked up
policies and documented waste of tens of millions of dollars with regards to
reuse.   My company, Infotrans, Ada Libraries Limited, Karl Grebyn, and all
of the others who got burnt big time trying to Ada reuse as a business know
the reality all to well.

    A piece of advice.  Never ask a group of socialists what is inherently
a socioeconomic free market question.

Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimization

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Greg Aharonian
Source Translation & Optimiztion
P.O. Box 404, Belmont, MA 02178