Re: ADA not dead in DOD

[drew@cs.tamu.edu (Drew Hamilton)]

In article <3mmh6i$11o@stout.entertain.com> cjames@stout.entertain.com (Colin James III) writes:
>From: cjames@stout.entertain.com (Colin James III)
>Subject: Re: ADA not dead in DOD
>Date: 14 Apr 1995 13:08:02 -0600

>In article <51856@suned1.Nswses.Navy.MIL>,
>Scott . Smart CDR <sws@mercury.nswses.navy.mil> wrote:
>>
Scott>>Just to show that GA and others are not totally correct when they say
Scott>>that DOD management provides no support for Ada, the following is
Scott>>from VADM Walt Davis, Dir Space & Electronic Warfare in CNO -- the
Scott>>buyer for all Navy C4I systems, as quoted in an internal magazine
Scott>>entitled "CHIPS" (April 1995):
>>
Stop.  This gentlemen does not know what he is talking about.  

James>Stop.  For those who do not get copies of Chips, it's a Navy puff-piece 
James>meant to compete with STC's CrossTalk, but on a much lower level. 

Clearly you don't read CrossTalk or Chips regularly or you would know that
they hardly compete.  Not sure what kind of insult you are leveling with the 
puff-piece comment, but as CDR Smart said, it is an internal magazine.  
Neither CrossTalk nor Chips aspire to be a refereed research journal.  Both
provide useful information to military personnel.   

James>For example, the April issue has a picture of a Vice Admr on the 
James>cover, and 

So what? 

James>articles about user endorsements of various MS-DOS products, and 
James>how to
James>do this or that in Windows or Novell, etc.  It's the Navy version of 
James>PC Computing, filled with editorial opinions from users.

Which many internal readers find useful.  

James>(It's something that experts in "C,C++, and Ada from Houston at NASA" 
James>might find to be academic and stimulating when not expressing 
James>resentments about Windows NT or bullying others on comp.lang.ada.)

Nice tacky statement which fails to address Smart's original point.  The Ada 
situation in Defense Department is dynamic and hardly uniform.   I certainly 
don't have the "big picture." However, one becomes better informed by getting 
the views of the senior leadership.   So maybe reading Chips and CrossTalk may
help you pull your head out of your duffel bag if you are sincerely interested 
in Ada usage in the Department of Defense.  


Drew Hamilton 
*************************************************
   Drew Hamilton                               
   drew@cs.tamu.edu
*************************************************