Re: status of Ada STL?

[18k11tm001@sneakemail.com (Russ)]

Ted Dennison <dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message news:<3D127686.5030400@telepath.com>...

> A lot of the stuff they did do (like the mandate) was at least partially 
> counterproductive. The mandate served its purpose for the DoD quite 
> well, but it didn't help Ada out all that much. The point of the mandate 
> was not to promote Ada, it was to lessen the tremendous amount of 
> different languages that were being used on DoD jobs. With the mandate 
> in place, it made it a bit tougher to use one of the little niche 
> languages, like CMS-2. However, the effect on Ada was roughly the same 
> as the effect on the popularity of classics like Shakespeare among high 
> school students when they are forced to read it for a class.

The mandate also forced many people to learn Ada and apply it. No
doubt many resented that, but many others who were forced to use Ada
must have realized that it is a good language and spread the word.
Having an 800-pound (or $300 billion) gorilla on your side has some
advantages.