From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-0.4 required=5.0 tests=AC_FROM_MANY_DOTS,BAYES_00 autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 102b75,501ec19d1d81daee X-Google-Attributes: gid102b75,public X-Google-Thread: 103376,db9a11afb3da4240 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-04-04 17:38:09 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!colt.net!newspeer.clara.net!news.clara.net!psiuk-p2!psiuk-p3!uknet!psiuk-n!news.pace.co.uk!nh.pace.co.uk!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Language support for flexible handling of system-detected errors. Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 09:48:59 -0500 Organization: Posted on a server owned by Pace Micro Technology plc Message-ID: References: <3CA0A166.501E1D68@despammed.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-200-133.miami.pace.co.uk X-Trace: nh.pace.co.uk 1017931740 27075 136.170.200.133 (4 Apr 2002 14:49:00 GMT) X-Complaints-To: newsmaster@news.cam.pace.co.uk NNTP-Posting-Date: 4 Apr 2002 14:49:00 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4522.1200 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4522.1200 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.arch:26447 comp.lang.ada:22123 Date: 2002-04-04T14:49:00+00:00 List-Id: "Mark Bottomley" wrote in message news:tRPq8.1821$2z1.252@news02.bloor.is.net.cable.rogers.com... > I would be interested to know if you ever used Rational's Ada development > environments? > I remember when Ada was first out there and Rational came out with their compiler - that had to run on their own custom hardware. I remember getting some information about it and hearing Grady Booch talk about it at a trade show. I never used it. I didn't know anybody who could afford it. :-) > My experience is that even the earlier environments on their (admittedly > expensive) custom > hardware (the R1000's) provided syntax completion, change impact analysis, > full incremental > compilation, and fine grained integral revision control that I have yet to > see equalled. Using > one of these in a serious development environment where the customer (the > military) is more > concerned about tracability and all the nice things in doing rigorous > development made it a > pleasure to use. > Yeah, I recall the R1000 had some very interesting and inovative features. IIRC, it didn't store Ada programs as raw text - it went straight from the editor into a parse tree and was kept that way. There might have been lots of cool things about it, but there were just so many impracticalities about it that even though I was in the Defense Industry in the days of cost-plus contracts, I had no knowledge of or contact with any projects that were using it. It was just *way* too expensive and/or didn't target whatever environment was required. > This cadillac environment was still a fraction of a programmer's annual > salary, but it was > typically targetted to embedded systems, not desktops. > A *fraction* of a programmer's salary? Unless you were *way* better paid than I was back in those days, it was more like a *multiple* of a programmer's salary. I don't remember the exact numbers for the various options I had looked at back then, but I'm pretty sure that (say, circa late 80's) the base sticker price was somewhere in the six-figure range. It was definitely beyond the consideration of any garage-startups and quite a bit more spendy than any DoD contractors I knew wanted to go. > I still think the greatest thing about Ada is that a compiling program is > likely to run, where > a compiling C++ program is just starting out. > Definitely a major advantage in my book. Its like having a spelling/grammar checker for your word processor. It keeps you from making the most egregious (and stupid/trivial) errors up front. And everyone knows that the earlier you detect/correct an error in any production chain the less it costs to fix. MDC -- Marin David Condic Senior Software Engineer Pace Micro Technology Americas www.pacemicro.com Enabling the digital revolution e-Mail: marin.condic@pacemicro.com