Ada and .NET

Ada and .NET

[Pascal Obry]

I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
Microsoft .NET platform ? Does somebody knows ?

I ask that because I follow development on Eiffel 5 (aka EiffelStudio)
and is seems to me that there are doing great job to put Eiffel on track...

In some time for sure Eiffel will be more visible than Ada as being one of
the language supported by .NET. And for sure this will be the better language
for safety and large software available under this platform if Ada is not
present.

If you are curious have a look at http://eiffel.com

Pascal.

-- 

--|------------------------------------------------------
--| Pascal Obry                           Team-Ada Member
--| 45, rue Gabriel Peri - 78114 Magny Les Hameaux FRANCE
--|------------------------------------------------------
--|         http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pascal.obry
--|
--| "The best way to travel is by means of imagination"

Re: Ada and .NET

[Ted Dennison]

In article <uvgkrpgoe.fsf@wanadoo.fr>, Pascal Obry says...
>I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
>Microsoft .NET platform ? Does somebody knows ?

Other that a PR platform, what exactly is ".NET"? Does it have a spec available
somewhere that compiler writers can write to?

If someone ported gcc to it, then a Gnat port could be done. Someone will
probably do that if it ever becomes a viable platform. But my understanding of
the GNU front is that they mostly see the whole concept as evil, and are thus
focusing on cloning it (in a freer context of course). The project is ".GNU". (
http://www.dotgnu.org )

As an aside, the project leads of ".GNU" have expressed dissatisfaction with C's
portability and Java's lack of native platform support. I managed to convince
them to consider using Ada (after all, it fixes both those problems, and has a
GNU compiler available on all major platforms), but I don't know how seriously
they'll consider it. I am *not* really interested in ".GNU" myself, so I don't
really have the moral capital to push it much further. I'd encourage anyone
seriously interested in this effort to join the ".GNU" developers mailing list
(and of course push for Ada use where a sensible and reasoned argument can be
made). You can sign up at http://dotgnu.org/mailman/listinfo/developers .

---
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Re: Ada and .NET

[Gerhard Häring]

On Tue, 17 Jul 2001 19:41:54 GMT, Ted Dennison <dennison@telepath.com> wrote:
>In article <uvgkrpgoe.fsf@wanadoo.fr>, Pascal Obry says...
>>I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
>>Microsoft .NET platform ? Does somebody knows ?

I not known to be a Microsoft fan, but I can try to summarize my limited
knowledge about this matter. .NET is, among others:

- MSIL: Microsoft Intermediate Language (Java bytecode)

- CLS: (Common Language Specification): What a compiler/interpreter runtime
  must implement (types, exceptions must inherit from System.Exception, for
  example, ...). This enables language interoperability.

- a JIT for the MSIL

- a lot of stuff I don't care much about, like web services

.NET is also:
- a better COM/ActiveX/DCOM (no need to register controls, just copy them in a
  directory)
- Java done right (equally suited for all languages, perhaps better JIT
  performance) Java was around much longer, so MS could learn from Java's
  shortcomings

What I am pretty enthusiastic about is that the MSIL/CLS will enable real
integration between all languages. You can throw an exception in language A and
catch it in language B. Apart from the Microsoft languages, there are IIRC
implementations for Mercury, Haskell, Python, Perl, Eiffel, COBOL.

>Other that a PR platform, what exactly is ".NET"?

>Does it have a spec available somewhere that compiler writers can write to?

The C# language and the CLI (Common language infrastructure; = MSIL + CLS, see
below) are submitted to ECMA.

>If someone ported gcc to it, then a Gnat port could be done. Someone will
>probably do that if it ever becomes a viable platform. But my understanding of
>the GNU front is that they mostly see the whole concept as evil, and are thus
>focusing on cloning it (in a freer context of course). The project is ".GNU". (
>http://www.dotgnu.org )

Ximian (the people behind GNOME) have announced their open-source
implementation of .NET technologies a few days ago.

http://www.go-mono.com/

Gerhard
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Re: Ada and .NET

[Ted Dennison]

In article <slrn9l98kd.70e.gerhard.nospam@lilith.hqd-internal>, Gerhard
=?iso-8859-1?Q?H=E4ring?= says...
>
>Ximian (the people behind GNOME) have announced their open-source
>implementation of .NET technologies a few days ago.

That is true. However, Stallman has voiced, er.., "displeasure" with that press
release. I don't bring this up because I think we all realise Stallman's a god
to be bowed to, but because that is why I belive the GNU project will be behind
".GNU" rather than expending effort to support ".NET" in any way. Of course
individuals or companies can take Free Software like gcc and do that (as long as
Microsoft lets them). But I wouldn't be suprised to see the GNU project actively
discouraging such efforts.

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Re: Ada and .NET

[Gary Scott]

Gerhard H�ring wrote:

<snip>

> What I am pretty enthusiastic about is that the MSIL/CLS will enable real
> integration between all languages. You can throw an exception in language A and
> catch it in language B. Apart from the Microsoft languages, there are IIRC
> implementations for Mercury, Haskell, Python, Perl, Eiffel, COBOL.
> 

And at least 3 Fortran 95s, more to be announced...

<snip> 

> Gerhard
> --
> mail:   gerhard <at> bigfoot <dot> de       registered Linux user #64239
> web:    http://highqualdev.com              public key at homepage
> public key fingerprint: DEC1 1D02 5743 1159 CD20  A4B6 7B22 6575 86AB 43C0
> reduce(lambda x,y: x+y, [chr(ord(x)^42) for x in list('zS^BED\nX_FOY\x0b')])

Re: Ada and .NET

[Robert Dewar]

Ted Dennison<dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message news:<6y057.22637$Kf3.298556@www.newsranger.com>...

> Other that a PR platform, what exactly is ".NET"? Does it have a spec 
> available somewhere that compiler writers can write to?

Perhaps you should do a little research before opining :-), and
yes .. it does have a spec .. just because you have not read it does
not mean it does not exist, and to dismiss .NET as simply a "PR
platform" is unreasonable by any standards.

> If someone ported gcc to it, then a Gnat port could be done. 

Nope, as your research will show if you take the time, this is not
the right approach for porting GNAT to .NET (think about JGNAT ...)

As for whether this will get done, it is quite simple, it will get
done if there is sufficient customer demand. Right now, we see 
absolutely zero customer interest in such a technology, so it is
not on our radar screen yet.

Of course anyone might undertake this effort, and indeed it would
make a good student project, at least getting started ...

Re: Ada and .NET

[Ted Dennison]

In article <5ee5b646.0107180001.1384ccf9@posting.google.com>, Robert Dewar
says...
>
>Ted Dennison<dennison@telepath.com> wrote in message news:<6y057.22637$Kf3.298556@www.newsranger.com>...
>
>> Other that a PR platform, what exactly is ".NET"? Does it have a spec 
>> available somewhere that compiler writers can write to?
>
>Perhaps you should do a little research before opining :-), and
>yes .. it does have a spec .. just because you have not read it does
>not mean it does not exist, and to dismiss .NET as simply a "PR
>platform" is unreasonable by any standards.

I certianly should, which is why I was asking questions. Note the question marks
("?") at the end of the senteces you quoted. That's generally the dead giveaway
for a request for information. Sentences that contain "opining" generally end in
a period, like this one.

Somtimes I just have to be impressed with the sheer effort that must be involved
in misunderstanding me so badly. :-)

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Re: Ada and .NET

[Florian Weimer]

dewar@gnat.com (Robert Dewar) writes:

> > Other that a PR platform, what exactly is ".NET"? Does it have a spec 
> > available somewhere that compiler writers can write to?
> 
> Perhaps you should do a little research before opining :-), and
> yes .. it does have a spec ..

I've looked at the C# draft and was disappointed.  A few hours of
browsing revealed several undesired side effects of some features and
considerable lack of exactness in some areas.  I reported these
defects through the official ECMA channel and have never received any
reply.

I doubt anyone will be able to implement a C# compiler which is
compatible with the official C# based only on this specification (even
after it has been finished).

Re: Ada and .NET

[Florian Weimer]

Pascal Obry <p.obry@wanadoo.fr> writes:

> I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
> Microsoft .NET platform ?

You choices of tenses is intriguing. ;-)

Yes, there will probably a compiler targeting CIL in the future.  At
least it's technically possible, and if the .NET/Mono platform is a
success, we will eventually see a compiler targeting it (just as it
was the case with the JVM).

Re: Ada and .NET

[Pascal Obry]

Florian Weimer <Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE> writes:

> Pascal Obry <p.obry@wanadoo.fr> writes:
> 
> > I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
> > Microsoft .NET platform ?
> 
> You choices of tenses is intriguing. ;-)

I see, let me try again :)

Is there some Ada company that are actively working on the .NET support for
their compiler ?

Pascal.

-- 

--|------------------------------------------------------
--| Pascal Obry                           Team-Ada Member
--| 45, rue Gabriel Peri - 78114 Magny Les Hameaux FRANCE
--|------------------------------------------------------
--|         http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pascal.obry
--|
--| "The best way to travel is by means of imagination"

Re: Ada and .NET

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <uhewam82j.fsf@wanadoo.fr>, Pascal Obry <p.obry@wanadoo.fr> writes:
> 
> Florian Weimer <Florian.Weimer@RUS.Uni-Stuttgart.DE> writes:
> 
>> Pascal Obry <p.obry@wanadoo.fr> writes:
>> 
>> > I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
>> > Microsoft .NET platform ?
>> 
>> You choices of tenses is intriguing. ;-)
> 
> I see, let me try again :)
> 
> Is there some Ada company that are actively working on the .NET support for
> their compiler ?

and is willing to mention that in public ?

Re: Ada and .NET

[Florian Weimer]

Pascal Obry <p.obry@wanadoo.fr> writes:

> I'm wondering if there is an Ada compiler that will support the 
> Microsoft .NET platform ?

Your choice of tenses is intriguing. ;-)

Yes, there will probably a compiler targeting CIL in the future.  At
least it's technically possible, and if the .NET/Mono platform is a
success, we will eventually see a compiler targeting it (just as it
was the case with the JVM).