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Date: 13 May 93 17:50:19 GMT
From: world!srctran@uunet.uu.net  (Gregory Aharonian)
Subject: Alsys, how insignificant is 18,000?
Message-ID: <SRCTRAN.93May13125019@world.std.com>
List-Id: <comp.lang.ada>

    Recently I read some very nice promotional literature from Alsys, which
I have to admit does the best job of marketing Ada (for example, the just got
a mention in the May 1993 issue of Computer Design).

    However, in their literature, they include one information that is quite
interesting.  At one point, they state:

	"We have the largest customer base in the Ada industry"
	 with over 18,000 installations worldwide.

Great for Alsys, but what does that say about Ada?  For example, Microsoft
has sold over 25,000 development kits for its new Windows NT operating
system, C/C++ kits for a four million line C++ operating system.  Given
that the equipment and environment needed for Windows NT is as costly as
an Ada development project (minus the excessive documentation costs), and
given that Windows NT is only a small part of the C/C++ world, one can
conclude that Ada use outside the Mandated world is insignificant, a
message reinforced by the actions of Ada compiler vendors to refocus on
C++.

	Either someone qualified better take responsibility for the health
of Ada, or the Ada Mandate should be dropped.  A language that is
"obscure" and "eclipsed" should not be the foundation of national security.

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