Re: Ada -> C or C++ translator

[pontius@btv.mbi.com.invalid ()]

In article <oOvYmTwBAtFP@eisner.encompasserve.org>,
	Kilgallen@SpamCop.net (Larry Kilgallen) writes:
> In article <3D0DDD18.7090501@yahoo.com>, David Rasmussen <pinkfloydhomer@yahoo.com> writes:
>> Martin Dowie wrote:
>>>
>>> Why do you suspect that an Ada compiler won't give you decent performance?
>>> The performance of today's Ada95 compilers seem pretty much on a par with
>>> the C/C++ compilers I'm using. There is an argument that they should be
>>> able to produce more efficient code too but other than the 'famous' Tartan
>>> compiler paper, I have yet to see much evidence of this.
>>>
>>> Didn't Averstar/Intermetric's Ada compiler use 'C' as an intermediate
>>> representation?
>
> It would be more accurate to say that they have a version of their
> AdaMagic product that uses C as an intermediate representation.
> In other settings it is coupled with a different back end and a
> different intermediate representation.
>
>> There might exist good Ada compilers. But I use free tools. I use gcc
>> for Ada, and while it has a good x86 backend, there exist other free
>> compilers such as the free Intel C++ and others that produce even better
>> code. Such a translator would give more choice to the programmer.
>
> But your original post said:
>
>> Does such a translator exist?
>
> with no requirement the translator be free (in any sense of the word).

I asked the same question a few months ago, so here's a different
perspective on the issue...

Picture an area where C/C++ are the normal and supported tools, and
indeed there is an aversion to "weird" stuff like Ada. Even within a
company or area things like this can vary from one department to
another.

So at the moment, while I may prefer to do some development in Ada, I
am being told to "just use normal stuff that someone else can pick up
from you, instead of something weird that will make us write it over."
Keep in mind that software development is also not our main job, rather
something that sometimes needs to be done so we can do our main job.

So I'd like to develop in Ada, and be prepared as needed to move the
code to C/C++, or perhaps Java, if it needs to be given to someone
else. Since there is no support, and hence no budget for this idea, I
need to use free tools. Interface to existing C/C++ libraries is also
necessary. (former easy, latter may need workarounds)

So far since the code hasn't been terribly performance sensitive, I've
been using scripting languages so far. I may be able to keep it there,
but I don't know.

Dale Pontius
NOT speaking for IBM