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

["Richard Riehle" <adaworks@earthlink.net>]

"Bernd Specht" <Bernd.Specht@gmx.com> wrote in message
news:Xns94E678C765E8CBerndSpechtgmxcom@151.189.20.10...
> "Martin Dowie" <martin.dowie@btopenworld.com> wrote in
> news:c7onju$smf$1@titan.btinternet.com:
>
> > There are GNAT ports to AVR microcontrollers (see
> > http://sourceforge.net/projects/avr-ada).
>
> 1. We work on 8051 and HC11, there is _no_ reason to switch to other
> processors (especially the programming language is no reason).

I have a student at NPS who is enthusiastic about Ada.  He actually
likes it.  His thesis project is related to the HC11.  Guess what
language he is forced to use instead of Ada.   Interesting thing is
that this project involves a large U.S. Navy software system. However,
he will not be able to write his code in his preferred language.

This is happening quite a bit.  I teach Ada, as part of a class called
Programming Paradigms.  Included in this class, I also teach C,
C++, Eiffel, Lisp, and touch on several other languages (e.g., one
lecture on Smalltalk).    Some of my students really like Ada. Most
of the professors who are thesis advisors don't like Ada, so the
refuse to let students use it.  Still, some professors are a little
more open about such things.   When the thesis advisor says,
"OK. Use Ada if you wish," and there is no compiler available,
we lose another opportunity to make our case.

I suppose this is my fault for not taking the time (I have so much
of it) to port Ada to these other platforms myself.   But my time
is spent reading programming assignments, grading exams, and
counseling students (which is a lot of time, it turns out), and there
just isn't time to do the fun things such as port GNAT to the
interesting platforms we might like to see it on.

As Marin has observed, as long as the compiler publishers are
operating on the basis of, "Our customers don't ask for that
capability," these other platforms are unlikely to be supported.
No one can blame them for that attitude.   Most of them are
small, understaffed, and understand that Ada is no longer a
"cash cow."    ACT has gone out on a limb with JGNAT, and
suffered for it - no sales.  Aonix, when it was still an Ada company,
took some risks with ObjectAda.   RR Software has always put
itself at risk, but I suspect its compiler sales are not at an all-time
high.   Rational stopped actively marketing Ada a long time ago
and seems to be in a holding pattern with the language.

Those of us who are Ada advocates have only ourselves to blame.
Had we put the energy into building commercial products instead
of relying on the DoD those many years ago, we would be much
further ahead today.   A few companies did take the risk.  In some
cases, they did well.   Others have vanished, not because of their
choice of Ada, but because of market forces.

At this point, we cannot depend on enlightened management at
DoD contractors.  It is a scarce commodity in that domain (with
some remarkable exceptions within LM and elsewhere).   Most
software developers are moving on to the next fad even as we
debate this issue.  Remember when people were saying, seven
years ago, "The language wars are over and C++ won."  Well,
they are not over.  Java and C# are gaining a large following,
perhaps larger than C++.

At present, Ada lacks a committed consortium (ARA, etc. seems
pretty ineffectual), a corporate sponsor, any government support,
and no coordinate approach to marketing and promotion.  It is
now a loose association of enthusiasts who hang on to the hope
that the resurrection is near, much like a bunch of millenial zealots.
While such faith is admirable, we must keep in mind the admonition,
"Faith without works is dead."

The Ada enthusiast at LM is not going to persuade the new manager
who prefers C++ of the benefits of Ada.  The Ada expert who did
so well on his last project at Raytheon will not turn the tide back
toward Ada when so many there have lost sight of why it was a
good idea for earlier systems.   The only hope is for those experts
to identify an marketing opportunity (even band together) and use
Ada for a new product.    Give up the security of you Boeing
pension, your LM health benefits, and launch a new product
using Ada.   Put you belief in Ada to the test.   That is the only
way Ada will survive over the next five or ten years.

Richard Riehle