Re: Ada used in General Aviation (GA) applications?

[Vinzent 'Gadget' Hoefler <nntp-2004-05@t-domaingrabbing.de>]

Bernd Specht wrote:

>Whats about the time to train the staff?

If they're already programmers at worst two weeks to get most of the
concepts.

Less if you only need the concepts they already have in C, but that's
a bad idea. ;)

>Whats about the time to get familiar with the new tools?

A couple of days. Hey, they don't have to write makefiles anymore. :)

>Whats about the time to get familiar with the new language?

Well, that takes longer (just like in C). But it's a parallel process.
You can do that while already writing code.

(And BTW, I still don't get it. Writing code is a very small part of a
whole development process. A much bigger part is testing and
debugging. And that's where Ada cuts a lot.)

>Is it economic to throw away the whole know how?

What? You don't do that. The know-how isn't just syntax. The know-how
is what they do. The system. Not just some *language*.

I still set the same bits in the same register, no matter if I do it
in Assembler, C or Ada. But it took me about half a year to understand
the parts of the whole system. *This* is the know-how. And that
doesn't get *woosh* just because I switch to another language.

>Whats about the money for the new tools?

GNAT is free, if you're not relying on professional support.

>Whats about the money for training?

Some books. They're not *that* expensive. And hey, learning Ada is
*fun*!

(BTW, currently at my company we all here are forced to learn Java,
obviously someone seems to think this is a benefit.)

>Time is money - the time you lose due to the change is _your_ money you 
>lose. Do _YOU_ really think _this_ is a benefit???

Clearly, yes.

For instance, I am currently writing on an embedded system, it's a
complete rewrite of something that already exists in Assembler. If I'd
do that in C it would take *much* longer (and would have less features
just to compensate for that longer development time).

>Take you time andf think about. Maybe you find your errors in your 
>calculation (hope you are not responsible for your companies health).

Well. I am not responsible for the companies health, but WTH, I am
*interested* in it. They pay me for what I am doing. So, does that
count? :)


Vinzent.

-- 
To err is human, to forgive beyond the scope of the operating system.