Re: ADA Compiler ? ADA Book ?

[dewar@cs.nyu.edu (Robert Dewar)]

Ken Mays said

"Also, there are a lot of compilers for Ada83 and Ada95.
The commercial ones ARE available, but I think the lowest I saw one
for was $495. I picked Visual Ada95 for the project I'm working on
($695) but it is in Beta stages.

You can obtain IntegrAda, Visual Ada95 or Alsys compilers on
http://www.pcada.com (starting point).

There is also the GNAT V3.05 (NYU) front-end compiler.
The books DO exist and so do the compilers, just that many are not
well known or EXPENSIVE!"

Well that's a lot of misinformation in a single message!

First there are several commercial Ada compilers for much less than $495.
In particular Thompson markets an Ada 83 compiler for windows for less
than $100, and will soon have an Ada 95 version. RR also has inexpensive
compilers available.

Second, the current version of GNAT is 3.01, soon to be replaced by 3.03
(3.02 was an internal release only). You will have a bit of a wait for
3.05!!  Also this is not a "front-end" compiler whatever the heck that
means, it is a full blown Ada 95 compiler available for many different
targets including seven different operating systems on the PC. Also,
although it was developed at NYU, there is no longer any connection
with NYU.

There are many Ada textbooks both for Ada 83 and Ada 95, and they are not
"EXPENSIVE", but rather priced at typical market prices. You should consult
the FAQ for this group for more information.