Re: Ada in Iraq

[18k11tm001@sneakemail.com (Russ)]

Preben Randhol <randhol+news@pvv.org> wrote in message news:<slrnbact04.tee.randhol+news@kiuk0152.chembio.ntnu.no>...
> Samuel Tardieu wrote:
> > Preben Randhol wrote:
> > 
> >> Russ wrote:
> >>> I have a question for someone with extensive knowledge of military
> >>> software. What percentage of the military equipment used in the recent
> >>> war in Iraq was programmed in Ada? 
> >> 
> >> Why?
> > 
> > Why not? This question is as interesting as many others asked in this
> > newsgroup, and you didn't question each of them :)
> 
> No no, I meant why as in: Why do you want to know, what are you using it
> for?

I work for a US government lab that does extensive work in air traffic
management (ATM). We will have major input into the future of ATM in
the US. As some of you may recall, I have a problem with some of Ada's
syntax, but I am nevertheless convinced that Ada is fundamentally
solid and is the right choice for the kind of software we develop and
will develop in the future.

Unfortunately, however, none of my colleagues is even willing to
consider using Ada. It's considered a "non-starter." C, C++, and Java
are the only languages considered. Ada wasn't even on the radar screen
until I brought it up. Also, I get the impression that professors who
study safety-critical systems are mostly using Java. "Real-time Java"
is gaining major momentum, and I fear that it could crush Ada.

I have the privledge of working with top experts in the world on
"revolutionary" new ATM system architectures. I ocassionally try to
sell them on Ada, but my efforts are starting to become a sort of
joke. Some of them think I am "obsessed" with Ada, and none of them
seems to think the choice of language is of fundamental importance
anyway. It's an "implementation detail" as far as most of the managers
are concerned.

> I don't think Ada will gain any popularity if people start with
> signatures like: 60% of the software in the War on Iraq was written in
> Ada. May be in military circles, but not elsewhere.

I don't know how much it will help, but if I can say that, say, 2/3 of
the real-time military software used in Iraq was written in Ada, I
think many people would be impressed. As an advocate of Ada, I
wouldn't be out there on the fringe anymore.