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: 103376,103b407e8b68350b X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-12-31 19:20:36 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!cyclone.bc.net!sjc70.webusenet.com!news.webusenet.com!newsfeed2.earthlink.net!newsfeed.earthlink.net!stamper.news.pas.earthlink.net!stamper.news.atl.earthlink.net!harp.news.atl.earthlink.net!not-for-mail From: "Marin David Condic" Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Anybody in US using ADA ? Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 22:20:26 -0500 Organization: MindSpring Enterprises Message-ID: References: NNTP-Posting-Host: d1.56.a0.59 X-Server-Date: 1 Jan 2003 03:20:35 GMT X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.00.2314.1300 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.00.2314.1300 Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:32425 Date: 2003-01-01T03:20:35+00:00 List-Id: I believe Pratt & Whitney is still using Ada for engine controls. At least some of them. As one who is working on the engines for the JSF, I can tell you that those controls are still in Ada - for the time being. (Don't know what will happen when they go into full scale development.) Its a shame to see that many in the DoD arena are abandoning Ada because "Everybody else is using C++". In this area, Ada does not tend to suffer so much from lack of large libraries or other development enhancers since hardware is often custom built and/or software development is not the long pole in the tent. Here Ada's faster development time and reduced defect characteristics can truly stand out. I'm afraid I don't know how to overcome the "follow the crowd" mentality here. Ada has the technical edge and so long as compilers/tools are available for the target (at a reasonable cost) there isn't a whole lot of business/financial edge to something else (in many cases at least). None of that tends to persuade the programmers or their managers that they shouldn't try to be like everyone else. The only real hope is for Ada to find its way into a significant commercial niche so that there is a large body of "everyone else" out there to be followed. Its hard to blame the programmers or the managers. Programmers want to have skills that can get them a job somewhere else if Congress pulls the plug on what they're doing - or simply want to use what they are familiar with already. Managers don't want to be perceived as taking unnecessary risks and - as the saying used to be - "Nobody ever got fired for picking IBM". Similarly, management won't be fired for using tools that are "industry standard". Nobody is going to change that position unless Ada is adopted for some reasonably wide sector of the software market. MDC -- ====================================================================== Marin David Condic I work for: http://www.belcan.com/ My project is: http://www.jast.mil/ Send Replies To: m c o n d i c @ a c m . o r g "I'd trade it all for just a little more" -- Charles Montgomery Burns, [4F10] ====================================================================== John R. Strohm wrote in message news:C900921B7A3FDDD4.5FD752FF5D42F9AF.349D2214D482463F@lp.airnews.net... > I *THINK* that Lockheed-Martin Fort Worth is using Ada for F-22 and F-16. > You might try looking at their web sight (http://www.lmco.com) and seeing > what they are looking to hire. (Most of their effort appears to be trawling > for resumes for Joint Strike Fighter, which is in C++. >